It’s no secrete that USCIS has been trying to crack down on H-1B fraud, now with data to support it.
Since President Trump took office, the percentage of H-1B petitions with RFE’s (Request for Evidence) has almost doubled, from roughly 20% to nearly 40%.
Approval rate among H1B cases that received an RFE has decreased from 83% to 63%.
Below is a comparison chart for Fiscal Year 2015 to 2019. Keep in mind that FY-2019 data only covers the first three quarters (10/01/2018 – 06/30/2019).
H-1B RFE Data:
Fiscal Year | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 (Q1-Q3) |
Petitions Received1 | 368,163 | 398,801 | 403,154 | 418,788 | 334,180 |
Initially Approved2 | 288,501 | 357,195 | 373,340 | 334,945 | 273,546 |
Initially Denied3 | 13,073 | 23,032 | 29,854 | 61,347 | 52,462 |
Total Completions4 | 301,574 | 380,227 | 403,194 | 396,292 | 326,008 |
Approved %5 | 95.70% | 93.90% | 92.60% | 84.50% | 83.90% |
Completions with RFE6 | 67,315 | 78,976 | 86,185 | 150,606 | 129,187 |
% of Completions with RFE7 | 22.30% | 20.80% | 21.40% | 38.00% | 39.60% |
Approved with RFE8 | 56,009 | 62,342 | 63,429 | 93,907 | 80,943 |
Approved % of Petitions with RFE9 | 83.20% | 78.90% | 73.60% | 62.40% | 62.70% |
Footnotes from USCIS:
1 The number of new petitions received and entered into a case-tracking system during the reporting period.
2 The number of petitions approved during the reporting period. Only initial decisions are considered. Subsequent decisions are excluded (ex Revocation, Remands, etc.)
3 The number of petitions denied during the reporting period. Only initial decisions are considered. Subsequent decisions are excluded (ex Revocation, Remands, etc.)
4 The number of petitions approved and denied during the reporting period.
5 The percentage of petitions approved out of total completions.
6 The number of completions that had a Request for Evidence (RFE).
7 The percentage of completions with an RFE out of total completions.
8 The number of petitions with an RFE that were approved.
9 The percentage of petitions with an RFE that were approved out of all completions with an RFE.
Source: DHS, USCIS, C3 Consolidated via Statistical Analysis System (SAS) queried July 2019.