The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on July 7 that it will modify the H-1B lottery regulations to give priority to higher-paid applicants.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on the 7th that the final changes to the H-1B work visa program will take effect after 60 days, and that applicants who have submitted H-1B visas prior to this will not be affected, and that the lottery will still follow the regulations in place at the time of application; previously, a federal judge had rejected the Trump administration’s regulation to raise the H-1B salary standards for reasons of non-transparency and untenable reasons, while the new regulations announced by USCIS on the 7th are adjusting the lottery order and issuance of H-1B visas, and the previously rejected content is a different concept.
According to the new regulations, H-1B work visa applicants will be classified into four salary levels, with the lowest level being the first and the highest being the fourth, and priority consideration will be given to applicants classified as the fourth level.
The USCIS statement said that the original H-1B visa program has been abused by many employers and has failed to bring in the best workforce for U.S. businesses, and that over the years, opportunities for U.S. workers have been taken away by low-wage foreign workers.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced plans to revise the H-1B visa last October and collected public comments within 30 days afterwards. DHS also published some of the feedback and federal responses in its latest document, including opposing comments that the new rules cannot take care of the needs of immigrant families and that the salary-based selection mechanism is contrary to American values and is not conducive to the development of American innovation.
The federal government also believes that this rule will encourage employers to provide more high-wage, high-skilled jobs and prevent too many low-wage, low-skilled workers from taking over the jobs.
In addition, DHS said that the new regulations will benefit recent college graduates and reduce the unemployment rate. 53% of recent college graduates are unemployed or semi-unemployed, and the unemployment rate for college graduates in computer science, mathematics, information systems, and management is slightly higher than the national average.
The new H-1B visa regulations will take effect in 60 days and will affect all applicants on and after the effective date of the new regulations, while those who have previously filed will still be subject to the issuance mechanism at the time of filing.
The U.S. issues approximately 85,000 H-1B visas each year, including in the fields of science and technology, engineering, and medicine, which are valid for three years and may be renewed upon expiration; there are currently approximately 600,000 domestic H-1B work visa holders, mostly from China and India.
Last December, Judge Jeffrey White of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California struck down the Trump administration’s decision to tighten H-1B visa regulations last October, including raising H-1B pay rates, setting limits on the salaries of overseas workers hired by employers, and tightening the restrictions on specialty occupations.
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