The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has launched an H-1B Employer Data Hub to provide information to the public on employers petitioning for H-1B workers.
The data hub is part of USCIS’ drive to increase transparency in employment-based visa programs by allowing the public to search for H-1B petitioners by fiscal year (back to 2009), NAICS code, employer name, city, state, or ZIP code. This will give the public the ability to calculate approval and denial rates for visas and to review which employers are using the H-1B program
USCIS will provide cumulative quarterly updates and annual releases of the data and anticipates updating the H-1B Employer Data Hub quarterly. For example, data for the first quarter (October-December) of a fiscal year will be provided in April of that fiscal year.
The H-1B program allows employers in the United States to temporarily employ foreign workers in occupations that require the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge and a bachelor’s degree or higher in the specific specialty, or its equivalent.
USCIS began accepting H-1B petitions for the FY 2020 cap on 1st April 2019. Congress has set a cap of 65,000 H-1B visas per fiscal year. An advanced degree exemption from the H-1B cap is available for 20,000 beneficiaries who have earned a U.S. master’s degree or higher from a US.
Article published 4th April 2019