MUMBAI: The US has approved a higher number of H-1B applications (both for initial visas and visa extensions for continued employment) this year, showing that the demand for these work visas continues unabated. This is a relief to Indians, who are the dominant holders of H-1B visas, especially after processing regulations got more stringent post-2015 .While in 2015, 2.88 lakh applications were approved (95.7%) by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services ( USCIS ) , for fiscal 2019, the figure touched 3.89 lakh (84.8%), up from last year's 3.35 lakh (84.5%).The latest statistics for the fiscal 2019 (the 12-month period ended September 30) were recently released by USCIS.Country-wise data has not been released for fiscal years 2019 and 2018, but in past years, a significant portion (more than 70%) of the aggregate H-1B visa applications for new jobs and visa extensions has been given to those born in India. Local hiring in USA may have resulted only in a slight drop in this figure, say immigration experts."It used to be that if the job required a minimum of a bachelor's degree (or foreign equivalent) and the beneficiary (whose H-1B visa was being sponsored by the employer) possessed this qualification, the H-1B application was likely to be approved. Not anymore, as is reflected in the spate of requests for evidence (RFEs) and lower approvals post an RFE," says Snehal Batra, managing attorney, NPZ Law Group.USCIS data for fiscal 2019 shows that the agency continued extreme scrutiny of H-1B applications. RFEs were sought in 40.2% of cases from sponsoring employers to justify the visa applications. This is up by 2 percentile points as compared to the previous fiscal ending September 30, 2018.In an earlier statement, USCIS had said that the top three reasons for an RFE are: to ascertain whether the job is a speciality occupation to warrant hiring of an H-1B worker; to ascertain a bona fide employer-employee relationship; and to ascertain the availability of work at third party work sites, where the employee would be deputed during the H-1B visa tenure.An in-house immigration expert affirms that there is a spike in denial of applications, even after additional information is submitted to the USCIS under an RFE. "In fact, applications for visa extensions are subject to the same rigorous scrutiny as new applications," he adds.Only 1.20 lakh applications were approved, as against the 1.84 lakh applications that were subject to the RFE procedure. The approval rate of H-1B applications, after obtaining additional information from the sponsoring employers, was 65.4% during fiscal 2019, a slight rise from the previous year's 62.4% .The post-RFE approval ratio was as high as 83% in fiscal 2015, but it has been steadily dropping. It was down to 74% in fiscal 2017, dropping still further to 62.4% in fiscal 2018, only to pick up slightly by 3 percentile points in fiscal 2019 .For now, according to experts, determination of whether a job is specialised or not, is a factor that will continue to dominate the processing of H-1B visa applications .