New H1B visa system can be 'gamed' by large Indian IT firms Infosys, TCS, Wipro

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2 Jun, 2011, 10.22PM IST, Harsimran Julka,ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: The Obama administation is seeking to change the filing and acceptance of H1B visa petitions, to an electronic format, a move which it says will reduce the burden and on government, and save $23 million over next 10 years for US employers. But immigration lawyers the new system can be twisted, to one's favour by stuffing it with a large number of applications, and thus increasing chances of selection.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has proposed an advance registration process via an electronic system that would seek to minimize administrative burdens and expenses related to the H-1B petition process. The USCIS says it will reduce the need for employers to submit petitions for which visas would not be available under the statutory visa cap.

Under the new proposed rule, employers seeking to petition for H-1B workers would register electronically with USCIS-a process that would take an estimated 30 minutes to complete.

Before the petition filing period begins, USCIS would select the number of registrations predicted to exhaust all available visas. Employers would then file petitions only for the selected registrations. The registration system would thus save employers the effort and expense of filing H-1B petitions, as well as Labor Condition Applications, for workers who would be unable to obtain visas under the statutory cap.

More: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/nri/visa-and-immigration/new-h1b-visa-system-can-be-gamed-by-large-indian-it-firms-infosys-tcs-wipro/articleshow/8699254.cms

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