Tag: H1B

Amid layoffs, tech firms continue to exploit H-1B visa programme: Study

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New York: Amid massive ongoing layoffs in the tech sector, the top 30 H-1B visa employers hired 34,000 new workers in 2022 and laid off at least 85,000 workers in 2022 and early 2023, an Economic Policy Institute (EPI) analysis found.
According to EPI researchers, tech and outsourcing companies are exploiting the highly-skilled H-1B visa program, created to fill labor shortages in professional fields, by laying-off a bevy of workers employed in firms like Meta, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, etc.
“Most employers hire H-1B workers because they can be underpaid and are de facto indentured to the employer,” the EPI research said.

Also, 13 of the top 30 H-1B visa employers were outsourcing firms that underpay migrant workers and offshore US jobs to countries where labor costs are much lower.
“Its implementation has been bungled by the US Departments of Labor and Homeland Security,” the analysis said, adding that since employers aren’t required to test the US labor market to see if any workers are available before hiring an H-1B worker or pay their H-1B workers a fair wage, employers have exploited the program.
ECI said, in 2022, 48,000 employers registered with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in hopes of hiring at least one H-1B worker, and nearly 30,000 employers ultimately hired at least one new H-1B worker.
Citing an example, the ECI research said Amazon was at the top of the list in terms of both new H-1B workers and layoffs. It hired 6,400 new H-1B workers in 2022, and hired the most new H-1B workers in 2021 as well, when it hired nearly 6,200 workers. The tech giant has either recently laid off or plans to lay off 27,150 of its employees — more than twice the number of H-1B workers it hired in 2021 and 2022 combined.
Google and Meta, both long-time top H-1B employers, together hired over 3,100 new H-1B workers last year.The duo laid off 33,000 employees, almost 11 times the number of new H-1B workers they hired in 2022.

The H-1B program is the largest US temporary work visa program, with a total of approximately 600,000 workers employed by 50,000 employers.
Most of these workers are employed in occupations like computer systems analysis and software development.
Visas for new workers are capped at 85,000 per year, but many employers are exempt from that annual cap, including universities and their affiliated nonprofit entities, nonprofit research organizations, and government research organizations.
The study urged President Joe Biden to “implement regulations and policy guidance to prevent misuse of the program, stop the exploitation of college-educated migrant workers, and ensure the program is consistent with congressional intent”.
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#layoffs #tech #firms #continue #exploit #H1B #visa #programme #Study
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 13, 2023
US court ends uncertainty over work permit for H-1B spouses

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Washington: In major relief for thousands of Indian techies, a US court has dismissed a lawsuit that sought to deny work authorisation to spouses of H-1B visa holders in queue for Green Card, ending the uncertainty that has dogged them for years.
A district court of Washington ruled on Wednesday that the work authorisation is in compliance with the Immigration and Naturalisation Act and supported by “decades of Executive-branch practice, and both explicit and implicit congressional ratification of that practice”.
The United States had granted more than 59,000 work authorisations – called Employment Authorisation Documents (EADs) and Form I-765 – in 2021, including both initial and renewal to holders of H-4 visas that are granted to spouses of H-1B visa holders who are mostly from India. There are more than 100,000 H-4 EAD holders now, mostly women.

The US has been granting EADs to H-4 spouses of H-1B visa holders whose applications have been accepted for Green Card since 2015, under a rule introduced by then President Barack Obama. The objective was to make it financially worthwhile for H-1 holders waiting for Green Card, which takes many years for applicants from India.
The rule, technically issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), was challenged by Save Jobs USA, an organisation of workers of a California company laid off because their jobs had been outsourced – also in 2015 – to two companies from India, Infosys and Tata Consultancy, which were staffed almost entirely at the time with Indian IT workers on H-1B visas.
The rule was defended by the DGS, joined by intervenors Immigration Voice and an impacted Indian-descent H-1B spouse, and friend-of-court filings from more than 40 companies and organisations.
Save Jobs USA had argued, chiefly, that the “rule lacks statutory authorization, violates the non-delegation doctrine, and is arbitrary and capricious”.
US District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan threw out their lawsuit, ending years of uncertainty, which included four years of President Donald Trump’s term, when immigration hardliners of his administration had appeared more sympathetic to the case made out by the Save Jobs USA than to DHS.

After proposing it in 2017, the Trump administration had notified a rule in 2019 rescinding the H-4 EAD rule.
And as an out-of-court settlement seemed between the Trump administration and Save Jobs USA, Immigration Voice, an advocacy group of Indians pushing for changes in US laws to end long waiting periods for Indians in queue for Green Card. Vikram Desai of the organisation said it was this intervention that prevented the out-of-court settlement.
“None of the big tech companies in 2017 and during the Trump administration did anything to help with saving the H4 EAD programme. In fact, big tech discouraged their employees citing fear of retaliation from the Trump administration,” Desai said, adding, “Our members have been extremely upset about the double-standards that the large tech companies continue to show on high-skilled immigration and equality for their employees.”
President Joe Biden withdrew the Trump era proposal on his first day in office, among a whole host of other rules and decisions from his predecessor’s administration. Clearly, the Biden administration has been in favour of letting H-1B spouses work, as ordered during President Obama’s tenure.
The court order has ended all and any remaining uncertainty.
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#court #ends #uncertainty #work #permit #H1B #spouses
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 1, 2023
Spouses of H-1B Visa holders in tech sector can work in US: Judge

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New York: In an immigration-friendly move, a judge has ruled that spouses of highly-skilled H-1B visa holders in tech sector can now work in the US, thus upholding an Obama-era rule under which partners were issued H-4 visas.
US District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Tuesday dismissed arguments by Save Jobs USA, who claimed that the Congress never granted the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) authority to allow foreign nationals, like H-4 visa-holders, to work during their stay in the US.
“That contention runs headlong into the text of the (Immigration and Nationality Act), decades of executive-branch practice, and both explicit and implicit congressional ratification of that practice,” Chutkan wrote in her ruling.
She further said that the DHS has authorised employment not just for students, but also for their spouses and dependents.
The lawsuit was also opposed by big tech firms like Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft.
H4 visas are issued to dependent spouses and children who accompany H-1B, H-2A, H-2B, and H-3 visa holders to the US.
The spouses of H-1B visa holders tend to be highly educated, many of them in STEM fields, and previously had careers of their own or worked to support their families.
In 2021, Google filed a legal brief with over 40 companies to protect the work authorisation programme that allows the spouses of H-1B visa holders to work in the US.

As part of his anti-immigration policy, former President Donald Trump had proposed to end the issuing of work authorisation (H-4 EAD) for certain spouses of high-skilled talent who came to the US on H-1B visas.
According to a National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) analysis, 90 per cent of the spouses of H-1B visa holders are female, two-thirds are from India and 6 per cent from China.
“The US can reap significant economic benefits, ease labor shortages, and attract more workers in the global competition for talent if it expanded current rules on work eligibility for the spouses of H-1B visa holders,” the 2022 study by NFAP said.
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#Spouses #H1B #Visa #holders #tech #sector #work #Judge
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 30, 2023
Bill to reform H-1B and L-1 visa programme introduced in US Senate

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Washington: A group of influential lawmakers have introduced a bipartisan legislation in the US Senate to comprehensively overhaul the H-1B and L-1 visa programmes and usher in more transparency in the recruitment of foreign workers.
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.
Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.
The L-1 is the other type of work visa the US issues to professionals looking to work in the country.
Unlike the H-1B, where an individual is looking to join an American company, the L-1 visa is issued to those who are already employed by the company in another country, and who are merely relocating to an American office.
Two influential Senators — Dick Durbin and Chuck Grassley — have introduced this legislation in the US Senate.
The co-sponsors include Senators Tommy Tuberville, Bernie Sanders, Sherrod Brown, and Richard Blumenthal.
The H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act will reduce fraud and abuse in the immigration system, provide protections for American workers and visa holders, and require more transparency in the recruitment of foreign workers, a media release said on Tuesday.
The legislation proposes to place new wage, recruitment and attestation requirements on employers looking to hire L-1 and H-1B workers, and employers seeking to hire H-1B employees to post those jobs on the Department of Labour (DOL) website, it said.

It also proposes to give DOL the authority to place a fee on labour condition applications and use it to hire an additional 200 DOL employees and make reforms to the H-1B programme by prioritising the H-1B visa issuance for workers with higher levels of education in STEM and amending the definition of a “specialty occupation” to require a bachelor’s degree or higher, according to the release.
The legislation seeks reforms to the L-1 nonimmigrant programme, including new time limits and evidentiary requirements for petitions from a “new office” and mandating cooperation from the Department of State in verifying foreign affiliates.
“For years, outsourcing companies have used legal loopholes to displace qualified American workers and replace them with foreign workers who are paid sub-par wages and put under exploitative working conditions,” Democratic Party Senator Durbin said.
“These actions hurt all workers and make our country less attractive to the world’s top talent. Our legislation would fix these broken programs, protect workers, and put an end to these abuses,” he explained.
The H-1B and L-1 visa programmes were established to fill in gaps in America’s high-skilled workforce, not supplant it, Grassley, a Republican, said.
“Unfortunately, some companies have exploited these programmes to replace American workers with cheaper labour, which ultimately harms American workers and foreign labour alike. Our bill puts American workers first and ensures that the programmes promote fairness for all workers,” he said.
Durbin and Grassley, long-time advocates for H-1B and L-1 visa reform, first introduced the legislation in 2007.
Authors of this legislation said the H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act would stop these abuses by closing loopholes in these programmes.
The legislation will also crackdown on companies that hire large numbers of H-1B and L-1 workers to displace American workers and facilitate the outsourcing of American jobs, the media release added.
Thousands of highly skilled foreign-born workers, including Indians, in the US, have lost their jobs due to the series of recent layoffs at companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon.
According to The Washington Post, nearly 200,000 IT workers have been laid off since November last year.
Industry insiders say that between 30 to 40 per cent of them are Indian IT professionals, a significant number of whom are on H-1B and L1 visas.
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#Bill #reform #H1B #visa #programme #introduced #Senate
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 29, 2023
Wrong to assume that sacked H-1B staffers have to leave America within 60 days: USCIS director

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Washington: Amid mass layoffs in the tech sector, the federal agency for immigration services has said it is wrong to assume that sacked workers holding the much-sought-after H-1B visas have to leave the country within 60 days, asserting they have multiple options to stay in the US.
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.
Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.
In a letter to the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies, USCIS Director Ur M Jaddou said: “When non-immigrant workers are laid off, they may not be aware of their options and may, in some instances, wrongly assume that they have no option but to leave the country within 60 days.” The Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS), which has been working for laid-off H-1B visa holders, recently wrote to USCIS about the impacts of recent technology sector layoffs and sought an increase to the up to 60-day grace period.
In the letter addressed to FIIDS director for policy and analysis strategy Khanderao Kand, the USCIS said it acknowledges the financial and emotional impact that job loss can have on employment-based non-immigrant workers and their families in the US.
“We are aware of the issue of involuntary terminations, especially in the technology sector,” Kand said.
Thousands of highly skilled foreign-born workers, including Indians, in the US, have lost their jobs due to the series of recent layoffs at companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon.
According to The Washington Post, nearly 200,000 IT workers have been laid off since November last year.

Industry insiders say that between 30 to 40 per cent of them are Indian IT professionals, a significant number of whom are on H-1B and L1 visas.
When a non-immigrant worker’s employment is terminated, either voluntarily or involuntarily, they typically may take one of the four actions, if eligible, to remain in a period of authorised stay in the United States, the USCIS said.
Prominent among these include filing an application for a change of non-immigrant status and filing an application for adjustment of status.
They can also file an application for a “compelling circumstances” employment authorisation document or be the beneficiary of a non-frivolous petition to change employer, the USCIS said.
“If one of these actions occurs within the up to 60-day grace period, the nonimmigrant’s period of authorised stay in the US can exceed 60 days, even if they lose their previous non-immigrant status.
“If the worker takes no action within the grace period, they and their dependents may then need to depart the United States within 60 days, or when their authorised validity period ends, whichever is shorter,” the USCIS said in its letter.
It said that because the up to 60-day grace period is codified in the Department of Homeland Security regulations, extending it would require a regulatory change in compliance with the Administrative Procedure Act and could not be extended by USCIS through policy guidance.
Fortunately, most individuals facing job loss already have several options to remain in the US, while continuing their job search past 60 days, the USCIS wrote.
It said it recognises the contributions made to the United States by talented foreign-born workers, including in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields.
“We will continue to monitor the technology sector layoffs and explore appropriate measures,” Jaddou said.
In a statement, Kand said departing the US after layoffs has an immediate impact on the families of the laid-off H1B and their school-going children.
“Losing these professionals is also a brain drain impacting the future competitiveness of the US in emerging technologies. Hence, FIIDS has launched a multi-phase campaign from awareness building to jointly written letters to the USCIS with elected officials and other prominent organisations,” the statement said.
FIIDS launched a media campaign in January to raise awareness about the issue.
In February, it launched a petition which received support from various prominent organisations like the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, US-India Business Council, American Jewish Committee, and The Indus Entrepreneurs seeking an extension of the grace period.
“We appreciate the USCIS for clearly providing options for the laid-off H-1Bs. These official communications will improve the possibility for the H-1B holders to remain legally in the US. We will still work with the DHS to change the grace period,” Kand said.
House of Representatives members Zoe Lofgren and Anna Eshoo, in their letter to USCIS, termed the departure of STEM professionals from the US a national security threat.
Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi said that if retained, these laid-off professionals can develop innovative products and potentially start new businesses and create new jobs while advancing research across critical industries.
Recently, Senator Chuck Schumer told an Indian American audience that the issue can be addressed with a procedure change.
The “White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders” under the Health and Human Services Department also recommended an extension of the H-1B grace period.
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#Wrong #assume #sacked #H1B #staffers #leave #America #days #USCIS #director
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 28, 2023
H1B visa cap for FY 2024 reached

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New York: The US has received a sufficient number of applications needed to reach the Congressionally mandated 65,000 H1B visa cap for the fiscal year 2024.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said on Monday that it has received enough electronic registrations during the initial registration period to reach FY 2024 H1B numerical allocations, including the advanced degree exemption (master’s cap).
“We have randomly selected from the registrations properly submitted to reach the cap, and have notified all prospective petitioners with selected registrations that they are eligible to file an H1B cap-subject petition for the beneficiary named in the applicable selected registration,” the USCIS said.
H1B cap-subject petitions for FY 2024, including those petitions eligible for the advanced degree exemption, may be filed with USCIS beginning April 1, 2023, if based on a valid, selected registration.
Only petitioners with selected registrations may file H1B cap-subject petitions for FY 2024, and only for the beneficiary named in the applicable selected registration notice.
The H1B is a non-immigrant visa that permits US companies to hire foreign workers in speciality occupations, which require theoretical or technical expertise.
It is the most sought-after work visa among foreign professionals, including Indians.

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#H1B #visa #cap #reached
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 28, 2023
Time running out for laid off H-1B professionals: FIIDS

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Washington: Time is running out for laid-off H-1B professionals as under the existing laws they need to leave the country within 60 days of losing their employment status, giving sleepless nights to the thousands of Indian tech workers and their family members.
“This has a humanitarian impact on them as their families, including their US-born children are uprooted abruptly, and those who were laid off in the earlier months are now running out of time,” the Foundation For India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS), which took up their cases with lawmakers and federal administration said in a statement on Friday.
While the US Citizenship and Immigration Services is considering their request to extend the existing time window to 180 days, the process is likely to take up some time, leaving no other option for these professionals other than to leave the country.
“FIIDS appeals to the USCIS, and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to consider a request to expedite the extension of grace period. FIIDS also appeals to the elected officials, tech executives, and community leaders to emphasise the need and urgency to increase the grace period,” the foundation said in a media statement.
Since last year, more than 2,50,000 such professionals have been laid off in the United States. This number continues to grow with companies like Meta announcing another set of tens of thousands of layoffs, FIIDS said.
“A large number of these professionals are tax paying H-1B immigrants (estimated 1,00,000), particularly from India, who need to leave the US if they cannot find another employer filing for their H-1B in 60 days,” it said.
Early this week, President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, recommended the federal government to extend the grace period for H1-B workers, who have lost their jobs, from the existing 60 days to 180 days so that the workers have enough opportunities to find a new job or other alternatives.
It is now up to the White House to accept the recommendations. However, it would be too late for the current H-1B visa holders who have lost their jobs since last October.

FIIDS, in its statement, thanked Senate majority leader Senator Chuck Schumer that this issue can be fixed by an administrative process in his discussion with Indian American leaders on a recent call on March 13. It applauded the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (WHIAANHPI) for the discussion and support for this extension in their meeting on March 14.
“We also appealed to the House Subcommittee on Immigration headed by congresswoman Pramila Jayapal to make a similar recommendation to the USCIS,” it said.
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#Time #running #laid #H1B #professionals #FIIDS
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 18, 2023
H1B visa: US planning to resume ‘domestic visa revalidation’ on pilot basis

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Washington: In a move that could benefit tens of thousands of foreign tech workers on H1B and L1 visas, the US is planning to resume “domestic visa revalidation” in certain categories on a pilot basis with the goal of scaling it up in the next few years.
The pilot project, to be launched later this year, when fully implemented, would be a big relief to thousands of Indian tech professionals in the United States.
Until 2004, certain categories of non-immigrant visas, particularly the H1B, could be renewed or stamped inside the US. After that, for renewal of these visas, in particular, those on H1B, the foreign tech workers have to go out of the country, mostly to their own country to get the H1B extension stamped on their passport.
For all the H1B visa holders, when their visa is renewed, they need to get their passports stamped with renewal dates. This is required if they wish to travel outside of the US and re-enter the US. As of now, H1B visa restamping is not allowed within the US.
Restamping can only be done at any US consulate.
This was a big inconvenience for foreign guest workers and also for their employees, particularly at a time when the visa wait time is more than 800 days or more than two years.
The much-sought-after H1B visas are issued for three years at a time. The H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.
Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

“We are working in earnest on plans to restart this service for certain petition-based NIV categories, and we hope to have a pilot up and running later this year. This would eliminate the need for these applicants to travel abroad to renew visas,” a State Department spokesperson told PTI.
The State Department facilitated domestic visa revalidation until 2004 for applicants who were physically present in the US and renewing a visa in certain petition-based nonimmigrant visa (NIV) categories, the official said.
“We cannot comment on how many visa holders would be initially eligible, but the pilot would begin with a small number of cases before scaling over the following 1-2 years,” said the State Department spokesperson in response to a question.
Over the past few months, the Biden administration has taken several steps to streamline the visa processing system and reduce inconveniences.
Notably, this was one of the recommendations of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, which now seems to have been implemented by the State Department.
Under the existing rule, that came into force in 2004, the procedure for restamping H1-B and L visas is to visit the home country and submit their H1, and L1 visas, passports, and documents by way of a dropbox or interview.
People have to wait months or years for H1-B visa stamping or sometimes they get no response after submitting all documents and get stuck for over 2 years in their home country. While their families are waiting in the US for him/her to come back, the presidential commission had argued in one of its meetings last year.
Moved by a commission member, Ajay Jain Bhutoria from Silicon Valley, the presidential commission recommended that H1-B and L visas be allowed for restamping in the US by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
It urged the USCIS to establish a separate department or unit to handle restamping of renewed H1-B and L visas within the US.
The commission felt that the whole process has proven to be very painful for legal immigrants who are invited to work here in the US to support the US companies and the economy.
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#H1B #visa #planning #resume #domestic #visa #revalidation #pilot #basis
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 10, 2023
Low H-1B visa limit affecting employers: Study

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New York: The low annual limit for US H-1B work visa petitions is currently the main problem facing employers trying to secure foreign-born talent, according to a new research.
The H-1B visa denial rates have returned to low levels following the administration’s losses in federal court during former President Donald Trump’s last year in office, the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) said in a new study released on Thursday.
In April 2022, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reported employers submitted over 483,000 H-1B registrations, almost 400,000 above the 85,000-annual limit for H-1B petitions.
The denial rate for (new) H-1B petitions for initial employment in FY 2022 was 2 per cent.
The rate declined during the final year of the Trump administration after judges declared many of its H-1B-related actions unlawful.
This led to a legal settlement and changes to restrictive immigration policies that resulted in the denial rate for new H-1B petitions for initial employment in FY 2021 dropping to 4 per cent — far lower than the denial rate of 24 per cent in FY 2018, 21 per cent in FY 2019 and 13 per cent in FY 2020.
The research, based on data from the USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub, also found that Amazon had the most approved H-1B petitions for initial employment in FY 2022, with 6,396, followed by Infosys (3,151) and TCS (2,725).
The 85,000 new H-1B petitions allowed each year for companies represent only 0.05 per cent of the approximately 165 million people in the US labor force.

An H-1B petition is often the only practical way to hire a high-skilled foreign national, including an international student.
At US universities, more than 70 per cent of full-time graduate students in electrical engineering and computer and information sciences are international students.
A 2022 NFAP study found 55 per cent of America’s startup companies valued at $1 billion or more have at least one immigrant founder, illustrating the importance and contributions of immigrants to the US economy.
“Despite the end of the Trump administration’s restrictive immigration policies that made US companies less competitive in the global battle for talent, companies in America still must deal with the low annual limit on H-1B petitions and employment-based green cards,” said Stuart Anderson, NFAP’s executive director.
“These and other policies encourage employers to send work and people outside the US and make it difficult for many talented people to pursue their dreams in America,” he added.
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#H1B #visa #limit #affecting #employers #Study
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 3, 2023