Washington, Jun 18 (IANS): The US will speed up processing of H-1B petitions for 2023 by redistributing processing of applications awaiting clearance.

"We are transferring these cases in response to the H-1B receipt issuance delays at the VSC," the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has said in a release.

Applications awaiting processing at the USCIS's Vermont Service Center are being transferred to a processing facility in California in this instance.

"This workload transfer will help us issue receipt notices for properly filed H-1B petitions more quickly," the agency said, adding: "Please allow time for the CSC to process the transferred cases and do not submit duplicate petitions out of concern that your previous submission did not arrive or has been misplaced."

The agency said companies whose H-1B petitions are transferred will not be notified or the transfer, but they will receive a receipt notice as soon as their petition is received.

It said that delays in clearance have been reported from other centers as well and it is actively trying to address them.

The US issues 85,000 new H-1B visas every year to US companies to help them hire workers from abroad to make up for shortage of Americans to fill specialty occupation positions. About 75 per cent of these visas go to Indians either hired from India or from those enrolled in US colleges and universities.