H-1B legislation targeting foreign workers pitched

WASHINGTON: Three American lawmakers have introduced a legislation in the House of Representatives that stops employers from hiring foreign H-1B workers if they have recently, or plan to, furlough their US workers and requires employers to pay their H-1B workers more than their American workers.

Introduced by Republican Congressmen Mo Brooks, Matt Gaetz and Lance Gooden, the American Jobs First Act proposes to overhaul the H-1B visa programme by making necessary changes in the Immigration and Nationality Act.

The H-1B visa, the most sought after among Indian IT professionals, is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

Given that the Democrats have a majority in the House of Representatives, the bill has little chance to be passed.

As per the text of the bill, a foreign guest worker may not be admitted or provided status as an H-1B non-immigrant in an occupational classification unless the petitioner employer has filed with the secretary of labour an application stating the employer is offering an annual wage to the H-1B non-immigrant that is the greater of the annual wage that was paid to the US citizen or lawful permanent resident employee who did identical or similar work during the two years before the petitioner employer filed such application; or an amount of $110.

The petitioner employer also needs to file with the secretary of labour an application stating the employer will not require an H-1B non-immigrant to pay a penalty for ceasing employment with the petitioner employer before the date agreed to by the H-1B non-immigrant and the petitioner employer.

The bill aims to suspend the F-1 OPT programme, which grants foreign students extendable work permits and exacerbates job market competition among US graduates. It ends the diversity visa lottery programme, which lawmakers say fails to serve US interests by issuing 50,000 green cards to foreigners regardless of their qualifications.