H-1B Statistics: RFE Up, Approval Down

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 Statistics

 

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.

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