San Francisco Immigration Law Blog

You worked with your boss to submit your H-1B employment visa petition. A couple months have gone by, and now – instead of receiving your H-1B approval – the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has sent you something called an RFE.

Why have you received this, and is it cause for concern?

A new electronic registration process for the overhauled H-1B visa system is now ready for the fiscal year 2021 lottery. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) says the new system is an easier-to-use streamlined process.

The USCIS says the new electronic system will reduce paperwork and save employers money when petitioning for H-1B visas. Under a simplified online process, employers must share only basic information about themselves and each requested worker.

The H-1B visa program has already been the subject of some high-profile change. That includes the new electronic registration requirement with $10 fee, its impact on the lottery and reports of ever-increasing application denials. The tumult may not end any time soon.

Two proposed rules could alter the H-1B visa process even further.

The current administration said it would deny visas to immigrants who are unable to prove they can pay for their own health insurance or medical costs once they become official residents of the United States.

The administration justified the move by saying immigrants are three times as likely to lack health insurance coverage, which would impose a burden on American hospitals and taxpayers. The president said the U.S. government is “making the problem worse” by admitting thousands of undocumented immigrants who are not able to pay for their medical costs and that they should not “further saddle the current health care system.”