On February 5, 2025, USCIS announced the dates for the upcoming H-1B cap registration window and selection process. Selection will be via random lottery, as in prior years. In its announcement USCIS stated that the registration period will open at 9:00am PT / 12:00pm...
On January 17, 2025, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS)’s H-1B modernization regulation took effect, covering several H-1B-related subjects (89 FR 103054, 12/18/24). In this blog post, we take a closer look at the regulation’s provisions relating to USCIS investigations and worksite visits to enforce H-1B compliance, at 8 CFR 214.2(h)(4)(i)(B)(2). This updates our prior blog posts in 2009, 2017, 2019, and 2024 on H-1B worksite visits.
Summary
The final rule delineates USCIS’s authority and companies’ compliance requirements for H-1B site inspections. Per the Final Rule, USCIS at any time after filing of the petition, including after petition approval, may conduct unannounced site visits, hold interviews of petitioners, beneficiaries, or third parties without the presence of counsel, and may perform investigations to verify that the information in the H-1B petition is/was true. Failure or refusal to cooperate in a site visit may result in denial or revocation of the H-1B petitions of any H-1B workers at the work site in question. Most details of the site-visit regulation are codifications of pre-existing USCIS practice from 2009 to the present.
No advance notice of site visit
The regulation allows USCIS to perform on-site inspections, without notice, as needed to verify the facts asserted in an H-1B petition. To be prepared for an unannounced site visit, employers may wish to instruct their reception staff on a protocol to follow.
Summary: On December 18, 2024, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) published a Final Rule in the Federal Register (89 FR 103054, 12/18/24) that will bring changes to H-1B eligibility requirements and definitions (including the definition of “specialty...
On December 2, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory H-1B visa “cap” for fiscal year (FY) 2025.The USCIS announcement states: “We will send non-selection...
On August 5, 2024, USCIS announced that it ran a second H-1B lottery on 2024 (FY 2025) registrations. The USCIS announcement states: USCIS recently announced that we would need to select additional registrations for unique beneficiaries to reach the fiscal year 2025...
On April 1, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory H-1B visa “cap” for fiscal year (FY) 2025.The USCIS announcement states: “We have randomly selected...
On Friday, February 2, 2024, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) published a Final Rule in the Federal Register that will bring significant changes to the annual H-1B cap selection process (89 FR 7456). The Final Rule is based on a Notice of Proposed...
In prior blog posts we have drawn attention to U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) making unannounced site visits to workplaces where H-1B or L-1 workers are employed and other measures the agency uses to detect H-1B fraud. Officers make such visits to...
On January 30, 2024, USCIS announced the dates for the upcoming H-1B cap registration window and selection process. Selection will be via random lottery, as in prior years. USCIS also announced the publication of its H-1B Registration Final Rule, intended to implement...
