IT firms file case against US immigration agency over shorter duration H-1B visas

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has been slapped with a 43-page lawsuit accusing the immigration agency of issuing H-1B visas for a duration shorter than three years. The case was filed last week by ITServe Alliance, a non-profit trade association representing more than 1,000 small IT companies, mostly run by Indian-Americans. "These petitions are often valid for only months or days at a time, and some cases are expired by the time the approval is received," the association claimed, adding that the itinerary requirement put forth by USCIS is also unlawful.

The H1-B visa is a non-immigrant visa, typically issued for three to six years, that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. American technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees from countries like India and China - the H1-B programme reportedly has a statutory cap of 65,000 visas per fiscal.

The Dallas-based ITServe Alliance alleged that USCIS has recently begun the practice of issuing shorter duration H1-B visas despite having no authority to misinterpret the existing regulations and shorten the approval durations. The lawsuit added that the United States Congress has specifically granted power to the Department of Labor and its regulations grant three-year approvals.

Incidentally, this is is the second lawsuit filed by ITServe Alliance against USCIS. The first one was filed in July 2018 after the USCIS had suddenly changed its website and the new language appeared to prohibit F-1 STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) optional practical training international students from working at the third part client locations. The immigration agency reportedly reversed its stand last month.

"The USCIS has been making arbitrary rules and memos for over eight years. It is our top priority to set things right and hold USCIS accountable to follow the regulations set by the Unites States Congress," said Gopi Kandukuri, adding that the members of ITServe Alliance are tired of receiving random denials for no reason. He was referring to the recent  spate of H-1B denials. "The new battlefield for us is the federal courthouse and not USCIS service centers," he added.