Amid unprecedented scrutiny by Trump administration, H-1B visa process begins today

One of the most sought-after American work visas particularly among highly skilled Indian professionals - H-1B process of filing petitions begins Monday.

The USCIS (the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services), the federal agency responsible for processing all H-1B visas will accept the applications for the season 2018-19 from April 2 and successful applicants will be able to work in the US from October 1, 2018. The tenure of the visa may hold for a period of maximum three years.

The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa allowing US firms to employ foreign workers in jobs and has an annual limit of 65,000 each financial year.

Tens of thousands of employees are hired each year from countries such as India and China to the technology companies who depend on H-1B visa.

Reports suggest that USCIS will have absolutely zero tolerance for even minor errors in the application. Also, immigration lawyers this year expect a much higher rate of rejection.

Immigration experts reveal that the US Department of homeland security handles around 30,000 applications for employment authorisation each year, in addition to renewal requests.

The H-1B visa is facing unprecedented scrutiny by the Trump administration whose draft proposal in June will be the first step towards ending the mechanism of granting this authorisation.