On 30 January 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced a final rule intended to strengthen the integrity of and safeguard against fraud in the H-1B annual cap registration process. The measures announced by USCIS seek to curtail the potential for abuse of the registration system by ensuring that each beneficiary will have an equal chance of selection in the lottery. The final rule establishes a beneficiary-centric selection process for registrations submitted by employers, provides start date flexibility for certain petitions, and aims to ensure the integrity of the registration process.
A Tax Alert prepared by EY Law LLP, and attached below, provides additional details.
