H-1B Lottery Documents Released in FOIA Suit
The American Immigration Council and Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd., filed a FOIA suit last year on behalf of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) to compel the release of records concerning USCIS’s operating procedures and policies on the administration of the H-1B “lottery.” When USCIS initially responded to AILA’s FOIA request, nearly all of the 521 records identified as responsive were withheld. In the course of negotiations after the lawsuit was filed, USCIS agreed to “reprocess” the initial production and to conduct a new search, which yielded an additional production of nearly 3,600 records.
Our review of the documents is still ongoing. However we have selected five particularly interesting documents and have made them available on AILA.org.
The first two are FY2015 H-1B cap actions plans for the California and Vermont Service Centers, prepared by the federal contractor that USCIS hired to process H-1B cap-subject and other petitions. These plans provide details as to how H-1B petitions are handled before and after USCIS conducts the lottery. USCIS’ production of these documents, in significant part, is a major victory as USCIS had claimed that these plans were exempt from disclosure under the FOIA exemption for trade secrets, commercial, or financial information of a third party.
Next is an Acceptability Review for I-129 CAP (FY 15) CAP Quick Reference Sheet for contractor staff. Fourth is a 2/13/14 email from Juliet M. Fries, in CSC’s Operational Strategy section, with a “top 7” list of reasons FY2014 petitions were rejected.
Last is a 1/21/10 email from Holly Jo Jackson, Program Support Analyst, Internal Review Division, Office of Security & Integrity, which states that an “SOP doesn’t exist” for the lottery, but provides a “summary explanation” of how petitions are allocated to adjudicators.
- CSC FY2015 H-1B Cap Plan of Action
- VSC FY2015 H-1B Cap Plan of Action
- Acceptability Review for I-129 CAP (FY 15) CAP Quick Reference Sheet
- Email from Juliet M. Fries, in CSC's Operational Strategy Section, with "Top 7" Reasons FY2014 Petitions Were Rejected
- Email from Holly Jo Jackson, Program Support Analyst, Internal Review Division, Office of Security & Integrity, on How Petitions are Allocated To Adjudicators.