Independent analysis shows that H-1B visa rejection rates for India’s leading IT services businesses fell to single digits in the first half of the fiscal year 2021 after averaging about 50% in the previous fiscal.
According to a National Foundation for American Policy report, visa rejection rates for initial employment, or new H-1B visas, fell from 28.6% last year to 7.1 percent in the first six months of fiscal 2021 due to legal challenges (NFAP).
In the first two quarters of 2021, the denial rates for India’s leading IT services businesses fell drastically from 59 percent to 5 percent for Infosys, and from 15 percent to 7 percent for industry leader TCS.
Similarly, HCL America had a 7% decline from 37% and Wipro saw an 8% decline from 39%.
A surge in demand for highly qualified technology professionals and historically low unemployment rates have kept H-1B visa demand high.
Employers have submitted 308,613 H-1B registrations for the fiscal year 2022 cap selection for about 85,000 H-1B petitions.
The USCIS then announced that it will hold a second lottery since it had not received enough applications to reach the limit.
They argued the Biden administration supported legal immigration and that improvements had begun.
Businesses registered for H-1B cap selection for the fiscal year 2022 with 308,613 H-1B registrations submitted earlier in March.
There were not enough applications submitted in the first round, therefore the USCIS announced a second lottery.
Immigration attorneys claimed the Biden administration supported lawful immigration and that improvements were already evident.