India is expected to gain the most from the US's announcement of an update of the H-1B visa to fill jobs more quickly

With effect from January 17, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has declared its intention to modernize the H-1B visa program. The goal is to provide firms more freedom to retain outstanding people while streamlining and speeding up the H1-B visa approval process. Indians will probably gain the most.


H- 1B Visa Main Targeted Points For Indian 

To put it briefly, the US agency has released new guidelines to update the H-1B visa program.

This new regulation will assist US businesses in more efficiently filling important job openings.

The new rule is expected to help Indians, who receive the majority of H-1B visas.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a final rule to modernize the H-1B visa program, which would help US companies better fill key job vacancies. This announcement is a welcome relief to hundreds of thousands of Indians. The revised rule will improve the program's integrity and control, expedite the approval process, and provide employers more freedom to retain exceptional staff. It will go into effect on January 17, 2025.

Indians will probably gain the most from this action 

Indians have accounted for the majority of H-1B visas in recent years. Since the new regulations aim to facilitate their transition to employment, Indian students in the US on F-1 visas would also benefit from the upgrade.

These adjustments are intended to improve the US economy and meet labor shortages in vital industries, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas stated, "American businesses rely on the H-1B visa program for the recruitment of highly-skilled talent, benefitting communities across the country."

"These improvements to the program provide employers with greater flexibility to hire global talent, boost our economic competitiveness, and allow highly skilled workers to continue to advance American innovation," he said.

IMPORTANT CHANGES TO THE NEW RULE 

Flexibilities for F-1 visa students transferring to H-1B status, guaranteeing their continuing employment and lawful status, are among the new rule's major improvements.

Additionally, under some situations, the new regulation extends eligibility to beneficiaries who hold a controlling interest in the petitioning organization and allows expedited processing for those who have already been granted an H-1B visa.

Through the codification of USCIS's power to carry out inspections and enforce sanctions for non-compliance, the new rule enhances program integrity.

By the worker's start date, employers must prove they have a legitimate position in a specialty occupation and present supporting documents in line with their Labour Condition Application.

According to USCIS, H-1B visa holders are also legally present in the United States and are subject to US legal procedures.

A NEW RULE CHANGES WHAT THE H-1B VISA MEANS 

Established by Congress in 1990, the H-1B visa program permits temporary employment of foreign workers by US firms in specialty jobs that need at least a bachelor's degree and highly specialized knowledge.

According to the USCIS, the new rule will update the definition of specialty occupations and make eligibility requirements more clear, especially for government and nonprofit research organizations that are exempt from the annual visa cap.

"The changes made in today’s final rule will ensure that US employers can hire the highly skilled workers they need to grow and innovate while enhancing the integrity of the programme," Ur M Jaddou, the USCIS director, said.

The annual quota for H-1B visas is 85,000. Additionally, the USCIS has declared that they have met the annual quota for this fiscal year. Sixty-five thousand of these 85,000 H-1B visas are for ordinary caps, while the remaining twenty thousand are for US advanced or master's degrees. Many non-profits, however, are not subject to that cap.

The majority of people with H-1B visas are from India. In 2023, 72.3% of the 386,000 H-1B visas granted were to Indians.

Every year, US businesses rely on H-1B visas to hire hundreds of thousands of workers from nations like China and India.

Applications for H-1B visas, which are granted through a lottery system, sometimes surpass the annual ceiling. This indicates that a large number of qualified applications are turned away purely by accident.

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