Workload transfer will help USCIS issue receipt notices for properly filed H-1B petitions more quickly
Faced with a huge H-1B visa backlog, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is transferring the processing of certain H-1B visa petitions to a different service center.
Nearly 70% of the H-1B visas issued annually are awarded to Indian nationals, most of them working for American technology firms, followed by Indian IT services companies.
Read: Petition seeks H-1B visa stamping within US (May 23, 2022)
Certain H-1B petitions and fiscal year (FY) 2023 H-1B cap petitions awaiting intake at the Vermont Service Center (VSC) are being transferred to the California Service Center (CSC) for data entry and adjudication, the immigration agency announced June 16.
“We are transferring these cases in response to the H-1B receipt issuance delays at the VSC.†it said while advising applicants to continue to file petitions based on the addresses provided on the Direct Filing Addresses for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker page.
“This workload transfer will help us issue receipt notices for properly filed H-1B petitions more quickly,†USCIS said.
The immigration agency also advised applicants to allow time for the CSC to process the transferred cases and not to submit duplicate petitions out of concern that their previous submission did not arrive or has been misplaced.
“If your petition is transferred, you will not receive a transfer notice, but you will receive a receipt notice as soon as your petition is receipted.,†it said.
Petitions will be worked to completion at the CSC once transferred, USCIS said. It advised applicants to use the petition receipt number
for inquiries about case status.
USCIS said it was continuing to experience receipt issuance delays in other workloads across some service centers and was actively trying to reduce these delays.
Read: US to expedite H-1B visa clearing process in view of backlogs (June 18, 2022)
The H-1B visa lottery concluded last month, following which the selected petitioners were required to submit their applications to be eligible to start working in the United States from Oct1 this year.
Several of these petitions are also for visa extensions, failing which the applicant would no longer be eligible to continue working in the country.