On April 1, 2019, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) launched a new H-1B Employer Data Hub on its website. The H-1B Employer Data Hub allows the public to search H-1B petitioners by name, NAICS code, city, state, or zip code for the last ten fiscal years (to FY2009). By searching the data hub, the public can see which employers may have had approved or denied H-1B petitions and how many H-1B petitions were filed by an employer.
This is an additional change that USCIS has implemented to the H-1B system over the past few months. We have previously provided alerts on various H-1B changes, including the proposed registration system and additional fees for H-4 dependents.
While USCIS’s stated purpose for the data hub is to allow the public to “calculate approval and denial rates” and “increase transparency,” the information that is provided does not allow the public to do either of these things. For example, the data hub does not list which occupations were applied for, why a petition was denied, or how many H-1B employees a company has compared to the number of total employees working at a company. Arguably, the data hub is meant to disincentivize employers from filing for an H-1B petition to ensure they are not listed on a public search site.
If you are an employer who is considering filing an H-1B petition for a new employee or to continue H-1B visa status for an existing employee, you should be aware that your information may be searchable on the new H-1B data hub.
If you have any questions regarding H-1B visas or immigration law updates, please contact Leech Tishman’s Immigration Practice Group.
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Leech Tishman Fuscaldo & Lampl is a full-service law firm dedicated to assisting individuals, businesses, and institutions. Leech Tishman offers legal services in alternative dispute resolution, aviation & aerospace, bankruptcy & creditors’ rights, construction, corporate, employee benefits, employment, energy, environmental, estates & trusts, family law, government relations, immigration, insurance coverage & corporate risk mitigation, intellectual property, international legal matters, litigation, real estate, and taxation. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, Leech Tishman also has offices in El Segundo, CA, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Sarasota and Wilmington, DE.