Rejection of H-1B visa petitions up in 2017 Q4

WASHINGTON : There was a sharp rise in rejection of H-1B petitions in the fiscal quarter immediately following President Donald Trump’s announcement of restrictive policies in 2017, said a study based on US data, that also showed more Indians were turned down than others.

The study by National Foundation for American Policy compared data obtained from the US Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS) in April-june 2017, during which Trump issued the Buy American, Hire American policy, and the July-septemberquarter to study the impact.

The spike in denials for Indians was 42%, from 16.6 % in the third fiscal quarter to 23.6% in the fourth. For those from other countries, it went up by 40%, from 14% to 19.6%; and for the combined total of applicants, it was in the same range at 40% but lower, from 15.9% in the third to 22.4%.

The numbers for “request for evidence”, which is more information needed to complete an application, went up from 24.2% in the third quarter to 72.4% in the fourth for Indians; from 18% to 61.2% for all others; and from 22.5% to 68.9% for all combined.

The study shows that obtaining H-1BS has become more difficult as a result of Trump’s policies, and that Indians — the largest recipients of H-1BS accounting for more than 70% of the annual 85,000 H-1B visas — were impacted the most.

Asked if there was proof of targeting of Indians, Stuart Anderson of the NFAP said, “it’s not possible to know if bias is a factor in adjudication decisions.”