H-1B visa notices go digital

The U.S. Department of Citizenship and Immigration Services, which processes H-1B visas, is moving to the digital age. And you might say that it's about time. This year, for the first time, it plans to notify applicants by email whether or not they have been approved for a visa. And that means a CIO will have a faster route to getting an overseas worker hired and put into an essential job without waiting months and months for approval.

"We're getting away from snail mail and taking advantage of technology," said Chris Bentley, a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration spokesman. The agency is part of the Department of Homeland Security, which handles the visa approval process. Bentley said the notification system should be online by April, when H-1B visa petitions will start being accepted for fiscal 2009.

It's still a tough road for anyone trying to get an H-1B work visa. More than 100,000 applications arrived last April seeking the 65,000 openings. There was so much traffic that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services closed the application process within days of its opening.

For more on speeding up H-1B visas:
- See this InformationWeek article