The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released its Semiannual Regulatory Agenda (pdf) for the coming year. Rules addressing the H-1B lottery process and I-9 forms are among the Agency’s regulatory priorities. According to the agency’s Fall 2009 Regulatory Plan (pdf), a subset of the Agenda which details the regulatory measures the DHS deems most important, the following actions, among others, are slated to take place within the next 12-month period:

• The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) is pursuing a regulatory initiative that will provide for visa number lottery selection of H-1B petitions based on electronic registration.
• The USCIS is considering proposing a revised registration process for cap-subject H-1B petitioners. The proposed rule would create a process by which USCIS would randomly select a sufficient number of timely filed registrations to meet the applicable cap. Only those petitioners whose registrations are randomly selected would be eligible to file an H-1B petition for a cap-subject prospective worker. This rule would eliminate the need for petitioning employers to prepare and file complete H-1B petitions before knowing whether a prospective worker has “won” the H-1B lottery. The rule would also reduce the burden on USCIS of entering data and subsequently returning non-selected petitions to employers once the cap is reached.
• The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to issue a final rule allowing electronic signature and storage of the I-9 employment eligibility verification form. The rule would essentially update Form I-9 by responding to comments and make minor changes to the interim final rule that was published in 2006.

The USCIS also plans to issue both proposed and final regulations relating to the I-9 form. A proposed rule would remove documents that are not state-issued from the list of documents considered acceptable for proof of identify (List B documents). The USCIS intends to issue a final rule that adopts an interim rule issued last year that removed expired documents from the list of acceptable identification documents. 

This entry was written by Ilyse Schuman.