Washington: The US will start accepting petitions for H-1B visas from April 2, a federal agency announced on Wednesday as it temporarily suspended the premium processing of all such work visas, popular among Indian IT professionals, subject to fiscal cap.
The temporary suspension of premium processing will help US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reduce overall H-1B processing time.
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.
The H-1B petition filing is for the fiscal year 2019 beginning October 1, 2018, the USCIS said.
The suspension of premium processing of all H-1B petitions which are subject to the annual caps is expected to last until September 10, 2018.
