In a proposed rule published in today's Federal
Register, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is
resurrecting and modifying a previous proposal from 2011 to
implement an electronic pre-registration system for H-1B cap
petitions. H-1B visas are for high-skilled "specialty
workers" in positions that require at least a Bachelor's
degree in a specific related field. The proposed rule would also
reverse the order by which USCIS selects H-1B petitions under the
H-1B cap in order to increase the number of beneficiaries with a
Master's or higher degrees from a U.S. institution of higher
education to be selected for an H-1B cap number.
Per existing law, new H-1B visas are subject to an annual cap of
65,000 visas (Regular cap) and an additional cap of 20,000 new H-1B
visas are available for beneficiaries with advanced degrees from US
colleges or universities (US Masters cap).
