According to a Financial Times report, all H-1B visa records older than five years will be removed from the Foreign Labour Access Gateway (FLAG) as part of the reform. The move will impact visa applicants as their US records will be permanently deleted.
Employers were reportedly given a deadline of March 19 to download any case records older than five years.
What is an H-1B visa?
The H-1B visa programme allows US businesses to temporarily hire foreign workers for speciality occupations that require specialised theoretical and practical knowledge.
H-1B speciality occupations include fields such as engineering, architecture, physical sciences, mathematics, medicine, and social science.
How the deletion of old H1-B applications impact workers
The deletion will affect all temporary labour condition applications such as H-1B, H-1B1, E-3, H-2A, H-2B, and Permanent Labor Certification Applications (PERM) as older records will no longer be available on the FLAG system.
The upcoming application system, which will be launched by the USCIS, is said to be fairer. Under the previous system, multiple companies were allowed to submit applications for a single individual. However, the new system gives an equal chance to each individual, regardless of how many employers file for them.
The new system will see USCIS select beneficiaries rather than applications for prospective hires. This will not only prevent multiple entries but also reduce the advantage larger companies have.
The revised system will also mandate an online registration to complete an H-1B petition to fast-track the application process. The upcoming system will also raise costs for recruiters.
This is expected to compel companies to be more careful in choosing potential employees. The yet-to-be-implemented system is also projected to be more efficient as it will make the application processing stage more efficient by making it online and eliminating physical paperwork.
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