The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on Friday that it had reached the Congressionally-mandated cap of 65,000 applications for the H-1B visa for the 2020 fiscal year.
The cap was reached within five days of the USCIS accepting applications. The agency also announced that it would next determine whether the cap of 20,000 applications for the advanced degree exemption has been reached. This exemption targets applicants with Master’s degrees or higher.
The H-1B visa—one of the most sought-after in the world—is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialised occupation. Three-fourths of H-1B visa-holders are Indian, according to a 2018 report.
This is the first year where new rules prioritising applicants holding degrees obtained in the United States are put in place. These include the prioritisation of advanced degree holders as well as the requirement that firms electronically register their petitions in advance with the USCIS.
The USCIS Director Francis Cissna had earlier stated that this rule would lower overall costs for employers and increase government efficiency. It was estimated that the new rules would cause a 16 per cent increase (5,340 applications) in the number of selected petitions for applicants with master’s degrees.
However, according to a report by CARE ratings, the top five Indian IT majors saw a 49 per cent increase in petitions being denied in FY18. Infosys had the highest number of declined applications, followed by HCL America, TCS Ltd, Tech Mahindra Americas Inc and Wipro Ltd. The report cited “increasing protectionist measures” as having an adverse impact on the Indian IT Majors. However, it added that these companies have subsequently increased local hiring in the United States.