American companies worry about cherished working visas

NEW YORK (AP) – Next on the immigration chopping block? US tech companies fear the Trump administration will target a visa program they cherish for bringing in programmers and other specialized workers from other countries.

Although these visas, known as H-1B, aren't supposed to displace American workers, critics say safeguards are weak. Critics also say the program mostly benefits consulting firms that let tech companies contract out their jobs to save money. The administration is considering a broad review of such programs, though there weren't many specifics in a draft executive order obtained by The Associated Press (AP).

This comes amid President Donald Trump's temporary ban on nationals of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US, including those who are employed by Google and other tech companies but were out of the country when the surprise order was issued Friday.

Here's a look at how the H-1B visa program works and why tech companies are worried. The H-1B program is open to a broad range of occupations, including architects, professors and even fashion models. Companies must affirm that the job requires a specialty skill that cannot be filled by a US worker.

Many of these skills happen to be in tech. According to the Labor Department, the top three H-1B occupations are computer systems analysts, application software developers and computer programmers. The Labor Department says about half of its H-1B certifications are for those three occupations.

The US government allows up to 85,000 new H-1B visas each year, and recipients can stay up to six years. Demand is usually higher, so the government holds an annual lottery. Advocates say that's a sign the cap needs to be raised.

Companies must make a good faith effort to hire a US worker before turning to an H-1B worker. They are also required to pay at least the prevailing wage for that occupation.

The Labor Department must certify that these conditions have been met. After that, Homeland Security's Citizenship and Immigration Services conducts a lottery and the State Department issues visas to the lucky winners.

Venky Ganesan, a managing director at venture capitalist firm Menlo Ventures, says that rather than displace lowwage workers, the program encourages students to stay in the US after getting their degrees in high-tech specialties. He said many of them go on to start companies and hire US workers.

A 2011 study from the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, found that the Labor Department's review is “cursory and limited by law to only looking for missing information and obvious inaccuracies.” An Associated Press review of Labor Department data showed that less than 2 percent of applications were denied in fiscal 2016.

Critics say the program has turned into a mechanism for companies to contract out jobs to consulting firms. Indeed, the data show that top companies certified for H-1B visas are large consulting firms. Apple ranked eighth, and no other traditional tech firm made the top 15 in the AP review.

Last week, Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren, whose district includes Silicon Valley, proposed raising the minimum annual salary for certain reporting exemptions to $130,000, from $60,000. The change could require more companies to prove that they indeed tried to hire US workers first and hadn't displaced any Americans.

As news of the proposal circulated in India, shares of many Indian technology companies sank. The stocks of Wipro, Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services - the fifth, seventh and 10th largest sources of H-1B applications - each fell 2 percent to 4 percent Tuesday on the Bombay Stock Exchange.