H1B on backburner as Biden focuses on 470,000 pending immigrant visa cases

Processing of non immigrant visas, including H1B cases are taking a backseat for now as the Joe Biden administration turns its attention to more than 470,000 immigrant visa cases currently pending in US consulates across the globe – a 7x year on year uptick in this category since January 2020, according to latest data from US government.

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas was non committal on whether Trump era bans on H1B (which expire March 31) would be lifted or how the Biden administration plans to proceed. “You know, I don’t really — I hate to end the questioning on a question, the answer to which I am not certain,” he said at a White House briefing Monday. “Individuals fleeing persecution” is high priority, Mayorkas explained.