‘Panic’ as last-minute H-1B visa measures hit
Because of the timing, it’s too late to change applications for 2018
A shakeup of the controversial visa program that allows foreigners in specialty occupations to temporarily work in the United States hit just as the brief annual window to apply for the coveted visas opened — too late to amend applications, lawyers say.
The Department of Homeland Security on Monday announced new measures to “deter and detect” fraud and abuse in the H-1B visa program while the Departpations ment of Justice issued a warning to employers not to discriminate against Americans.
These warnings followed a United States Citizenship and Immigration Services memo Friday that it would no longer consider entry-level computer programming positions as specialty occupations that potentially automatically qualify for the visa.
“It’s a bit strange to have this so-called guidance go out as people have already prepared papers,” said Ted Ruthizer, partner and co-chair of the law firm Kramer Levin’s business immigration group. “It’s set off a panic among employers and foreign nationals around the country,” he said.
H-1B visas are granted to allow companies to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occu- such as science and information technology and are most commonly used by tech companies seeking computer specialists.
Only 85,000 are issued each year and must be filed on paper, via mail. The application pool typically is closed within a week because there are so many applicants. Those applications began flooding into U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Monday, even as notices about the changes were posted.
Given the timing of the notices, it is too late for applications for 2018 to be changed, said Mark Koestler, also a partner at Kramer Levin.
“Even if you wanted to redo anything because of this memo, you don’t have time to because the Department of Labor piece of the application, which has to be done prior to submission, takes seven days,” he said.
Monday’s new measures focus on agents making more site visits to employers to combat visa fraud.
“The Justice Department will not tolerate employers misusing the H-1B visa process to discriminate against U.S. workers. U.S. workers should not be placed in a disfavored status, and the department is wholeheartedly committed to investigating and vigorously prosecuting these claims,” acting assistant Attorney General Tom Wheeler of the Civil Rights Division said in a statement.
The immigration agency will focus especially on companies considered “H-1B dependent,” meaning 15% or more of their workers are on H-1B visas.
The visa program long has been controversial, with some complaining that companies use them to hire cheaper tech labor, often from India, while qualified Americans are passed over. President Trump has vowed to end the system, which he says doesn’t protect American workers.