H-1B applications thin out as Trump fear looms over firms
THE US CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES RECEIVED 199,000 APPLICATIONS IN 2017 FOR THE 2018 CYCLE, 37,000 LESS THAN THE 236,000 IN 2016
The number of petitions the US received for the highskill H-1B visas in 2017 dropped unexpectedly, and sharply, for the first time in four years amid speculation that it was due to the Trump administration’s hostile measures and Indian tech companies scaling down applications for fear of reprisals.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which runs the H-1B visa programme, announced on Monday it had received 199,000 applications in 2017 for the 2018 cycle. This was 37,000 less than the 236,000 in 2016, ending a rising trend.
The USCIS got 233,000 applications in 2015 and 172,500 in 2014.
“It is a significant drop,” said George Ganey, an immigration lawyer in Maryland, who was expecting the numbers to rise because of the improving economy.
“There is no doubt that it has been caused at least in part by President Trump’s election.”
Mukesh Aghi, president of the US-India Business Council, a trade body, attributed the fall to “much lower petitions from Indian companies”. He didn’t know by how much, but industry sources said it could be by as much as 20% or 30%.
Indian tech companies are among the highest recipients of H-1B visas and have been accused of “gaming the system” by filing a huge number of applications, apparently much in excess of their need, to crowd out American counterparts.
They have been under increasing scrutiny in recent years, and more so since Trump’s election, with the new administration threatening raids and inspections to prevent alleged abuse of the programme to displace American workers.
Given the number of applications received every cycle, much in excess of the cap, USCIS began using a lottery system in 2007 to deal with a demand that far outstrips availability.
The agency announced the closure of the process for 2018 on Monday with the lottery that has been in the crosshairs of the programme’s critics who believe it’s being abused to outsource American jobs and to offshore them eventually.