New US rules make hiring tougher under H-1B visas
WASHINGTON: The Trump administration has introduced a new set of stringent provisions to the H-1B labour application process under which the US employers must disclose the total number of foreigners already employed by them, making it tougher to sponsor fresh foreign workers.
The H-1B visa, popular among Indian IT professionals, is a nonimmigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.
The new information required by the department of labour is significant because before sponsoring a foreign worker for the H-1B visa, the company needs to get its labour application approved by it. The department certifies that there are no domestic worker for that particular position and as such the company can hire a foreign guest worker under the H-1B visa category.
The labour condition application form updates will now require employers to provide more detailed information about H-1B worker employment conditions, including disclosing all places of employment for H-1B workers, including periods of short duration and providing the estimated number of H-1B workers at each place of intended employment. It also requires the clear identification of secondary entities which are using H-1B workers and seeks H-1B dependent employers which are claiming an exemption solely on the basis of education, such as a master’s degree, to provide documentation of the degree. Under the new forms, employers also need to give an estimate of the total number of foreign nationals already working at each location listed in the application. Further, revisions to the worker complaint form include added data fields designed to better describe the nature of an alleged programme violation, the department said in a statement on Tuesday.
The new forms will be made available for use in the coming weeks. An announcement will be made on the office of foreign labour certification’s website identifying the date when they will be made available, it said.