Biden’s spring agenda proposes modernizing H-1B visa program

The U.S Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released its first ever spring agenda (the bi-annual agenda) proposing overhauling of the regulations relating to ‘employer-employee relationship’. In its spring agenda released on Friday DHS also plans to launch new requirements and guidelines for site visits including in connection with applications filed by employers sponsoring H-1B workers, where there is an indication of fraud.

This proposals will be published by December and it will undergo a proper process of rule-making, which includes inviting stakeholder comments and vetting the same, prior to finalization. Thus, it is not likely to adversely impact genuine business needs, a Times of India report said.

According to the report, the action plan also calls for a revision in the methodology for determining the prevailing wage levels for H-1B and green card holders. As TOI had reported earlier, one of the action points in US President Joe Biden’s pre-election manifesto- to ‘Curb exploitation of foreign workers, by ensuring that employers cannot hire below the market rate’.

The Biden administration has sought public comments on the best methodology and data to use in updating the minimum wage requirements for H-1B visa and green card holders. The draft proposal on wage methodology will be released by November 2021 – it will be several months before it is finalized. Further, there will also be a transitional phase to the new wage levels, the report said.

In parallel, DHS is also reviewing the Trump-era proposal which had sought to allocate H-1B visas based on wages rather than random lottery system. The effective date of this proposal had been posted by the Biden administration until December, 2021, the report said.

Filing fees for visas, visa extensions and various other applications filed with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) are expected to increase and will be known in November 2021. While the Trump administration had sought to increase the fees (with some fees such as for citizenship applications being hiked by 80%), it had been stonewalled at the judicial level.
At the same time, the scope for premium processing, which currently is largely relegated to processing of H-1B visas is expected to be widened to cover other visa applications and filings.