The White House Office of Management and Budget has completed its review of a final H-1B modernization rule.

Key Points:

• The text of the rule is not yet available, but OMB review is the final step in the regulatory process before publication.
• As BAL reported last week, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services previously indicated that it may seek to finalize changes to the registration selection process before other portions of the rule that would make changes to H-1B eligibility requirements. This rule may therefore be limited to changes to the H-1B registration selection process, though exact details of the regulation will not be known until the text is released.

Background: In October 2023, USCIS proposed significant changes to the H-1B program that would impact eligibility requirements, program oversight, the H-1B selection process and other aspects of the H-1B program. The proposal drew more than 1,300 comments in a comment period that ended Dec. 22. Business and immigration coalitions have been generally supportive of USCIS’ proposal to shift to a beneficiary-centric lottery, but reactions have been more mixed on some of the proposal’s other measures. BAL will provide updates as information becomes available.