An electronic registration system for H-1B work visa, the most sought after by India's IT professionals, could save American businesses more than $23 million over the next 10 years, a top US immigration agency has said.
To be published on Thursday, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) proposes to establish an advance registration process for US employers seeking to file H-1B petitions for foreign workers in specialty occupations.
The proposed electronic system would minimise administrative burdens and expenses related to the H-1B petition process including reducing the need for employers to submit petitions for which visas would not be available under the statutory visa cap, USCIS said.
"The proposed rule would create a more efficient and cost-effective process for businesses interested in bringing workers in specialty occupations to the United States," said USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas.
Improving the H-1B petition process is part of USCIS's ongoing efforts to leverage new ideas and innovation to streamline our operations and enhance customer service, he said.
Under the proposed rule, employers seeking to petition for H-1B workers subject to the statutory cap 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 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," the press release said.
The US had recently hiked visa fees in certain categories of H1B and L1, mainly used by Indian software professionals, to fund security measures along the US-Mexico border.
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