In a move to fortify the integrity of the H-1B registration process and mitigate fraud risks, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced a final rule for the fiscal year 2025 (FY 2025) H-1B cap.

The rule introduces a beneficiary-centric selection process, ensuring fairness and equal opportunities for all beneficiaries, regardless of the number of registrations submitted on their behalf.

Registrations will now be selected based on unique beneficiaries, reducing the potential for fraud and ensuring equal chances of selection. Beginning with the FY 2025 initial registration period, USCIS will mandate registrants to provide valid passport information or valid travel document information for each beneficiary.

The final rule clarifies requirements regarding the requested employment start date on certain petitions subject to the H-1B cap, allowing filing with requested start dates after October 1 of the relevant fiscal year.

The rule codifies USCIS’ ability to deny or revoke H-1B petitions if the registration contains false attestation or is otherwise invalid.

USCIS has also announced a Fee Schedule final rule, effective after the initial registration period for FY 2025 H-1B cap.

The initial registration period for the FY 2025 H-1B cap will open on March 6, 2024, and run through March 22, 2024.

USCIS will launch organisational accounts on February 28, 2024, allowing collaboration on H-1B registrations, petitions, and associated forms. Online filing of Form I-129 and Form I-907 for non-cap H-1B petitions will also commence on the same date.

While petitioners can continue to file paper Form I-129 H-1B petitions, online filing options will be available starting April 1, 2024.

USCIS Director Ur M Jaddou stated, “The improvements in these areas should make H-1B selections more equitable for petitioners and beneficiaries and will allow for the H-1B process to be fully electronic from registration until final decision.”

These reforms aim to enhance the overall H-1B programme, making it more transparent, efficient, and resistant to fraudulent activities.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s latest volte-face may have exposed him to a fresh wave of criticism over his string of flip-flops, but has improved the BJP’s prospects months before the Lok Sabha polls, an NDTV Prashnam survey has found.

The survey, conducted on a sample size of nearly 4,000 people, suggests that the Bihar reversal is likely to translate into an advantage for the BJP in the general election. About 53 per cent of the people participating in the survey said they would vote for the BJP-JDU alliance in the upcoming polls. About 23 per cent said they would back the RJD-Congress bloc. The remaining were divided between supporters of other parties and those who were still undecided.

Asked what would have been their choice if the Mahagathbandhan of JDU, RJD and Congress was still intact, 35 per cent of those in the survey said they would have backed the Opposition bloc. This was matched by those who said they would back the NDA anyway.

This suggests that Mr Kumar’s flip-flop may have turned the poll fight from a neck and neck contest to the NDA’s advantage.

About 73 per cent of NDA voters said they would back the BJP-JDU alliance after the Bihar reversal, indicating that BJP voters have largely accepted Mr Kumar’s return to the NDA fold.

Not just the Lok Sabha polls, Mr Kumar’s switch may bring dividends to the BJP in the Assembly polls next year too, the survey found. 

About 54 per cent of those part of the survey said they would back the BJP0-JDU alliance in the state polls. Twenty-seven per cent opted for the RJD-Congress team.

In contrast, 41 per cent said that they would have voted for the Mahagathbandhan in 2025 if it remained intact. About 38 per cent said they would side with NDA anyway.

The survey also tried to decode if Mr Kumar, who has gone from being a ‘sushashan babu’ to being the flagbearer of flip-flops, still enjoys popular support.

About 36 per cent of the Opposition alliance voters said they would back the nine-time Chief Minister anyway in the Lok Sabha polls. For the assembly polls, this went up to 46 per cent. Seventy per cent of those in the survey said they would support the BJP-JDU alliance in 2025 now that Mr Kumar had switched over.

‘Where, oh where, is Hemant Soren‘ – the thought that consumed the Enforcement Directorate and headlined national news for nearly 48 hours this week, and led to the Jharkhand Chief Minister’s JMM and BJP (and followers) exchanging jabs on social media, as well as an entertaining flood of memes.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief had been called by the ED to join a money laundering probe. Mr Soren was first questioned on January 20, after which a fresh summons demanded his presence again, and said he could choose from one of two dates. He chose January 29 but then went “missing”. He was not at his home in Delhi’s Shantiniketan when ED officials came at 7 am (and stayed for 13 hours), and was not at his government’s office in Vasant Vihar.

A “Missing” Chief Minister Hemant Soren

What followed was two days of confusion; nobody seemed to know (or would admit to knowing) where Mr Soren was, including his own government, and the phones of senior staffers were switched off.

There were allegations – trumpeted by the  BJP’s Nishikant Dubey – Mr Soren was prepping for his arrest, and was on the run to buy time to name his wife, Kalpana Soren, as a puppet Chief Minister, so he could retain power even after being arrested.

READ | Plane Parked, BMW Seized: Search For ‘Missing’ Hemant Soren

There were also claims the Jharkhand leader – who arrived in Delhi Saturday night in a private plane – had snuck out of his house late Sunday, and left “on foot” with only a shawl wrapped around him.

Money, More Money, And A BMW

Meanwhile, dramatic visuals of Rs 36 lakh in cash recovered from Mr Soren’s Delhi home and the seizure of a luxury SUV, a BMW X7 that is priced at around Rs 1.3 crore, made headlines Tuesday.

Mr Soren’s driver was also questioned, but he could shed no light on the matter.

The “Missing” Posters

In the midst of this, Mr Soren’s party insisted he had been in touch with them and swatted away taunts by the BJP, which put up posters mimicking those asking for information about ‘lost persons’.

READ | “If Anyone Saw Him…”: BJP’s ‘Missing’ Ad For Hemant Soren

One poster, shared by the BJP’s Jharkhand chief, Babulal Marandi, offered Rs 11,000 as a reward.

The JMM also reminded the ED – which the opposition believes is used by the BJP to target its rivals – he had been scheduled to appear on January 31, after the agency accepted a request to reschedule.

The party also said the agency had been told Mr Soren’s schedule had changed and that the Chief Minister would now be available at his home in Ranchi – at 1 pm on January 31.

So Where Did Hemant Soren Go?

Quite simply, it seems Mr Soren drove out of Delhi in an unknown car, dodged on-alert media and law enforcement agencies, evaded toll booth cameras, and reached Ranchi – nearly 1,300 km away.

How he knew ED officials would land up at his home the following day, after having told them he would appear for questioning later in the week, is not yet clear.

The private plane that brought the JMM leader to Delhi remained parked at the Indira Gandhi International Airport all this time, with a team of ED officials watching it.

What Did He Say After Resurfacing?

“I reside in your hearts…” Mr Soren declared after re-appearing in Ranchi Tuesday afternoon.

His party said Mr Soren had travelled to Delhi on “personal work” and returned, and slammed the ED’s action – searching the Chief Minister’s home in his absence – “uncalled for” and “unconstitutional”.

READ | Plane In Delhi, BMW Seized, ‘Missing’ Hemant Soren Pops Up In Ranchi

It transpired the JMM leader had called for and chaired a meeting of party legislators (they were effectively issued a whip) at his home, a meeting for which his wife, Kalpana Soren, was also present.

The meeting was reportedly called to discuss strategies regarding the ED’s questioning.

The Kalpana Soren Angle

Meanwhile, the presence of Kalpana Soren at the party legislators’ meet Tuesday has sparked another line of controversy, with speculation she will succeed her husband if (as is expected) he is arrested.

READ | Hemant Soren’s Wife May Be Named Chief Minister If He’s Arrested

The move will mirror that by RJD patriarch Lalu Yadav years ago; he made his wife, Rabri Devi, a Chief Minister after he was sent to jail on corruption charges. The JMM has said it will back Ms Soren, but there are legal hurdles since she is not a member of the Assembly and there is no time for a bypoll.

What Is The Case?

Mr Soren is being investigated in connection with an alleged racket of illegal change of land ownership by mafia in Jharkhand.

The ED has arrested 14 people in the case so far.

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