The H-1B online registration system will go into effect on March 1, 2020. Employers must submit the required information online for each H-1B beneficiary whom they wish to sponsor between March 1 and March 20.  Until now, employer must just verify its FEIN (Federal employer Identification Number) with DOL (Department of Labor). But this online registration system is far more comprehensive and burdensome for employer and potential H1B employees. It seems to be designed to discourage employer to sponsor H1B visas.

The fact that the current Administration has been hostile to the H-1B program is no secret. The percentage of H-1B petitions which have received Requests for Evidence, Notices of Intent to Deny and Denials has increased dramatically during the past few years.

For example, in fiscal year 2015, the denial rate for initial H-1B petitions was 6%. By fiscal year 2018, without any changes to our immigration laws and regulations, the denial rate skyrocketed to over 30%. H-1B visas are for professionals: physicians, teachers, computer programmers, engineers and other professions which require a minimum of a 4-year university degree. In other words, H-1B visas are for "merit-based" immigration, exactly the type of immigration that the President claims to favor.