7 US companies withdraw their H-1B lawsuit against US Federal Agency

A consortium of seven American businesses, on Monday, announced the dismissal of an H-1B case against US Citizenship and Immigration Services after the federal government decided to recognise and adjudicate prior decisions on international work visas.

In March, the American Immigration Council filed a lawsuit on behalf of the seven companies, challenging USCIS's arbitrary denial of H-1B petitions filed after 1st October solely because the expected job start date of the H-1B employees dropped after 1st October.

According to the complaint, the USCIS created an absurd option based on this timeline: foreign employees had to start on 1st October (and not a day later), or the US employer had to misinterpret the expected job start date by "back-dating" the petition.

"In the US, arbitrary dismissals restrict business immigration. This case demonstrates the value of litigating to challenge unconstitutional agency acts and advance a reasonable procedure for employment-based immigration" Leslie Dellon, senior counsel (business immigration) at the American Immigration Council, echoed this sentiment.

According to a media release, the lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts to restrict USCIS's arbitrary and capricious refusal to accept timely and properly filed H-1B applications, which are subjected to the annual statutory cap on H-1B visa numbers allocated each year.

"We dismissed the case because USCIS quickly corrected its mistake. The USCIS has now approved all of our clients' applications. It's sad that legal action was necessary. However, we applaud USCIS for doing the right thing" said Mintz members and plaintiffs' co-counsel Douglas Hauer and Laurence A Schoen.