On December 1st 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California vacated the Strengthening the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Classification Program Interim Final Rule (IFR). The IFR was to amend certain Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regulations governing the H-1B nonimmigrant visa program. Specifically, the IFR was to revise the regulatory definition and standard for “specialty occupation” and added definitions for “worksite” and “third-party worksite.” The terms clarified what a “U.S. employer” is and also reviewed the employer-employee relationship requiring additional evidence of work in specialty occupations. Among these changes, the validity period for third-party placement was reduced to a maximum of 1 year and reviewing itinerary requirements for H-1B petitions and codifying USCIS’s H-1B site visit authority and related consequences for denying such visits.
