US immigration agency has stated that immigrants are free to work for more than one employer with the new H1-B work visa. Submission of an I-29 petition by the employer is mandatory for approval of the same.

The h1-b visa allows companies in the US to employ a number of skilled workers from other countries. To be noticed, the H1-B visa is high in demand among Indian IT professionals.

“In general, H-1B workers may work for more than one employer but must have approved I-129 for each,” US citizenship and immigration service (USCIS) tweeted.

“New employers must submit an I-129 petition before you may begin working,” the USCIS said. I- 129 is a form submitted by the employer to the USCIS for a non-immigrant worker.
The H1B visa has an annual numerical limit cap of 65,000 visas each fiscal year as mandated by the Congress. The first 20,000 petitions filed on behalf of beneficiaries with a US master’s degree or higher are exempt from the cap.

Additionally, H1B workers who are petitioned for or employed at an institution of higher education or its affiliated or related nonprofit entities or a non-profit research organization or a government research organization are not subject to this numerical cap.

In a blog post, Immigration Attorney Tsion Chudnovsky said immigration lawyers are seeing a big change in how visas are being processed in 2017 and many expect denial rates to increase to 40 percent in this year’s H1B cap. The USCIS has started challenging H1Bs which would have no problem being approved in the past, she said.