Lawsuit against US immigration agency over shorter H-1B visa duration
An IT advocacy group representing more than 1,000 small IT companies mostly run by Indian-Americans has filed a lawsuit against the US immigration agency for issuing H-1B visas for durations shorter than three years. The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.
H-1B visas issued to employers to hire a foreign workers
The H-1B visas are typically issued for three to six years to employers so that they could hire a foreign worker. Based out of Dallas in Texas, the ITServe Alliance in its 43-page lawsuit filed last week alleged that the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has recently begun a practice of approving H-1B petitions for shorter than three years' duration.
USCIS has no right to shorten the duration: ITServe
"These petitions are often valid for only months..., and some cases are expired by the time the approval is received," the lawsuit stated. ITServe lawsuit against the USCIS alleges that the agency has no authority to shorten the approval durations. In fact, the United States Congress has specifically granted power to the Department of Labor's regulations to grant three-year approvals, the lawsuit said.
Lawsuit alleges that itinerary requirement by USCIS is unlawful
This is the second lawsuit filed by ITServe against the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. In the first lawsuit filed in July 2018, ITServe demanded USCIS to remove language from their website prohibiting F-1 STEM OPT students working at the third part client locations. The lawsuit also alleges that the itinerary requirement put forth by the USCIS is also unlawful.
'ITServe Alliance's members tired of receiving denials for no reason'
"The USCIS has been making arbitrary rules, memos for over eight years, it's our top priority to set things right and hold USCIS accountable to follow the regulations set by the US Congress," said ITServe's national president for 2018, Gopi Kandukuri. Members of ITServe Alliance are tired of receiving random denials for no reason, Kandukuri said referring to H-1B denials that ITServe members received.
