H-1B Policy Loosens Towards Computer Programmer Applicants

In 2017, the Trump administration released a guidance memo that imposed stricter evidentiary criteria for computer programmer H-1B applicants. It also raised questions about whether computer programmers qualified for H-1B specialty occupation visas. The memo caused increasing numbers of Requests for Evidence and denials.

The memo was rescinded by USCIS recently. This is a result of a series of court orders on the H-1B program. The denial of an H-1B petition was decided to by arbitrary and capricious by the U.S. Court of Appeals. USCIS relied on logic from the Memo for the denial of the applicant.

USCIS will no longer apply the Memo to any new filings or appeals. This leaves H-1B applicants working as computer programmers with much bigger chances of success.

The H-1B season is approaching faster than ever. If you are a computer programmer with intentions of applying, it would be a regret to miss this great chance to apply. Below is a timeline with all the important dates for the FY-2022 H-1B Cap:

• March 9 — H-1B registration opens at noon ET.
• March 25– H-1B registration closes at noon ET.
• March 31 — Date by which USCIS intends to notify selected registrants.
• April 1– The earliest date that FY 2022 H-1B cap-subject petitions may be filed.

There is only one month until the beginning of the H-1B registration. This means it is now time for applicants to begin preparing documents. We have listed a few tips that will help you understand each phase of the process.

Online Registration

Employers can register employees through the USCIS website. An account can submit registrations for multiple employees, but no more than one registration per person.

Reading Lottery Results

At the end of March/beginning of April, petitioners will hear back on the lottery result. Following are the statuses that one may be in:

Submitted — the petitioner has completed the online registration. However, the applicant needs to wait longer to discover if he/she was selected.

Selected — congratulations! You got it!

Denied — This might have been caused by an error in the payment method submitted. One can also be denied if he/she received several registrations from the same employer.

COVID-19 forced a large number of international students to return to their home countries rather than stay for a career. In the meantime, employers are not financially capable enough to hire as many new employees as in previous years.

The number of this year’s H-1B applicants is anticipated to drop. This creates a perfect opportunity for those applying.

 

特朗普遗留政策针对程序员H-1B申请者，现已被驳回

2017年，特朗普政府对移民局备忘录进行了修改。计算机程序员职位从此不再被默认为H-1B职业，并为程序员们增加了更严格的考量标准。这一修改造成了无数程序员的H-1B申请受阻。

在2月3日，拜登政府取消了这一修订。新提交的H-1B申请及上诉将不再受此条规影响。

在2020年12月16日，移民局对一位H-1B申请人的拒绝被美国法庭判定为不合理。为了保持对H-1B申请人衡量标准的一致性和公平性，移民局取消2017年对备忘录做出的修改，不再限制程序员H-1B申请人。程序员重新成为了H-1B默认职业，申请人也不再会受到比其他职业更严格的审查。

这次的政策改变会给作为程序员的朋友们带来申请上比以前更多的机会。离H-1B申请季已经不远啦，快收下这个H-1B重要日期的时间轴吧！

• 3月9日- H-1B网上注册开始
• 3月25日- H-1B注册网站关闭
• 3月31日-移民局计划通知被选中申请人
• 4月1日- 材料提交开始

H-1B的注册离我们只有一个月了。这意味着准备今年申请H-1B的朋友们该开始准备材料啦！动手之前，不妨看看我们为大家梳理的注意事项：

网上电子注册

雇主可以通过移民局官网为员工注册申请。一个账户可以为几位不同的员工进行注册，但不能为一位员工递交多份注册。员工被注册后成为抽签候选人的一员。

得知结果

大概在3月末、四月初，申请人会收到抽签结果的通知。收到的通知会包括以下三种状态：

• 已提交（submitted）— 申请人已经完成网上电子注册，但具体有没有中签还要继续等待
• 被抽中（selected）— 人品爆发，抽中啦！
• 被拒（denied) — 大概是提交的支付方式出了差错，或者同一员工收到了来自同一雇主的多份申请。

去年是H-1B抽签系统改革的第一年。往年的流程是先递交材料，后抽签决定谁的申请被受理。这个过程往往劳民伤财，因为许多申请因为没被抽中，即使花了许多时间精力准备，没被看过就作废了。

抽签系统改革后，整个过程变得更加便捷与合理。这造成了去年申请H-1B的人数直线上升，创造了历史新高，竞争压力空前。

而今年，因为疫情造成的大批留学生回国和企业招聘不力，今年的H-1B申请人数预计比往年大大降低。所以现在是申请H-1B的大好时机！有意申请的朋友们现在就要开始准备啦！如果到了最后关头才发现自己的申请出了差错，白白浪费了今年的好机会，那可太得不偿失了。