On October 23, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend the H-1B regulations. These proposed rules are seen as a significant step to modernize the H-1B requirements and address issues of fraud that occurred in the previous H-1B lottery cycle. Comments for these proposed rules will be accepted through December 22, 2023.
What is caste and caste discrimination?
“Caste” or a “caste system” is a social hierarchy passed down through families and can dictate an individual’s permissible professions as well as aspects of their social life, including whom they can marry.[1] It exists in a variety of ways, but for purposes of defining a legally protected class, it most directly relates to persons of South Asian descent. Importantly, however, an individual’s race or religion is not a caste, and caste and race/religion should not be equated or conflated.[2]
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on July 21, 2023, that the agency will release a revised Form I-9 on August 1, 2023. Employers will be required to use the new version of Form I-9 on or before November 1, 2023.
It was widely reported last month—including by the Wall Street Journal and Associated Press— that the U.S. government is investigating alleged collusion by some companies to “increase the chances that their prospective foreign hires will win a coveted H-1B visa for skilled foreign workers in this year’s [visa] lottery,” as the Wall Street Journal