USCIS has confirmed that a new rule published during the waning days of the Trump Administration will be delayed. The rule was set to take effect on March 9, 2021 and would have changed the H-1B Lottery process to be wage-based than random selection. Biden’s administration later issued memo to delay all “midnight regulations” for 60 days from the date of the memo and granted each agency discretion to further delay as needed. This effectively pushed the start date of this rule to March 20, 2021 and killed out any chance that it would be implemented this year. See related post.
Now, USCIS has officially delayed the effective date further to December 31, 2021. It explains the reasoning as follows: “The Department is delaying the rule’s effective date until December 31, 2021, because USCIS will not have adequate time to complete system development, thoroughly test the modifications, train staff, and conduct public outreach needed to ensure an effective and orderly implementation of the H-1B Selection Final Rule by the time the initial registration period will be open for the upcoming fiscal year (FY) 2022 H-1B cap season. During the delay, while USCIS works through the issues associated with implementation, DHS leadership will also evaluate the January 8th rule and its associated policies, as is typical of agencies at the beginning of a new Administration.”
Employer and beneficiaries may now a relax a little as they prepare for the upcoming registration.