The Challenging Climate for the H-1B Program

USCIS is currently being sued in two separate cases over their Notice of Intent to Revoke (NOIR) process and policy. USCIS may revoke a petition if the terms of employment and the original petition differ, in cases of fraud, misrepresentation, or inaccurate information, in cases where the employer broke the law, or if the original approval violated regulations.

Faced with increased scrutiny, longer processing time, higher rates of RFE, and lower rates of approval, the H-1B visa is becoming harder to attain. The agency, though, says it “does not believe that recent policy changes have led to a purported increase in H-1B revocations.”

In October 2017, USCIS issued a memo to overturn a George W. Bush administration policy that would have adjudicators generally defer to decisions on prior applications when deciding H-1B extension applications. In February 2018, a new policy was introduced that would require employers that place their H-1B employees at third-party locations to provide additional information beyond the typical requirement.

If a visa is revoked, H-1B workers have 30 days to leave the U.S. after receiving a notification. In such a case, an individual would have to reenter the H-1B lottery all over again, instead of just reapplying.