H-1B visa changes & its impact on the non-immigrants

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The analysis of the H1B visa changes from 1990
to 2019
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YOUR COMPLIANCE OUR ASSURANCE
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Brief analysis of the H-1B visa changes since 1990
FY 1990 This is the year in which George H. Bush
has signed the Immigration Act, 1990 with an
annual cap of 65,000 on the visas. Though there
are pre-existing labor laws, this act has
differentiated the high skilled workers from the
low skilled workers. This has also increased
legal immigration by 40.
FY 1998 This year President Bill Clinton has
signed the American Competitiveness and Workforce
Improvement Act(ACWIA) of 1998. After the US
Commerce Department has issued a report
predicting an upcoming shortage of high-tech
workers. This Act has raised the annual cap on
the H-1B visas to 115,000 for the years 1999 and
2000.
FY 2000 Clinton had signed the American
Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century
Act(AC21). According to this Act, the annual cap
on H-1B visas is set as 195,000. This cap was set
only for the years 2001-2003, after which it was
reverted to 65,000.
FY 2003 The H-1B visas available from this year
are reduced from 65,000 to 58,200. The remaining
visas are reserved for Singaporeans and Chileans
according to the free trade agreements between
these countries.
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Brief analysis of the H-1B visa changes since 1990
FY 2004 According to the H-1B Visa Reform Act
2004, students graduated from a US institution
with a masters degree or higher are eligible for
a lottery prior to the mandated lottery. This
lottery allows 20,000 slots for these students.
If these slots are filled, the remaining
applicants are added back into the annual
lottery. The ACWIA has also increased the visa
fees from 1000 to 1500. But the companies with
25 or fewer employees pay 750.
FY 2015 A company with 50 foreign immigrants
having 50 or more employees in the US should pay
an additional fee of 4000 from this year. Many
Indian IT majors were worst hit by this new law.
But this year also opened doors for the spouses
of H-1B workers to apply for their own EAD.
FY 2017 Since the beginning of the Trump
Administration, the non-immigrant are the worst
affected with the latest H-1B visa changes.
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Administrative measures undertaken by the US
government to bring in many H-1B visa changes
MARCH 2017 The USCIS has raised the qualifying
criteria for the specialty occupation.
APRIL 2017 President Donald Trump signed the
Buy American, Hire American executive order,
which aims at higher wages and employment rates
for the US workers. These proposed changes have
an adverse effect on Indias IT sector.
JUNE 2017 During this month, Trump signed an
order striking out a part of the 2012 order which
was signed by the former president Barack Obama.
The previous order was signed to ensure that 80
of non-immigrants visa applicants are interviewed
within three weeks of receipt of application
AUGUST 2017 The visa application is made tougher
with the proposed changes to the Labor Condition
Application (LCA)t
DECEMBER 2017 The DHS and the USCIS published
notices that they are intended on proposing
several changes to the H-1B and H-4 visa
programmes along with cutting back the STEM OPT
programme, which allows foreign students to stay
for longer in the US after finishing their
studies.
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Administrative measures undertaken by the US
government to bring in many H-1B visa changes
FEBRUARY 2018 A policy memorandum is issued to
mandate stricter adjudicatory standards and
oversight for H-1Bs that will be placed at
third-party client sites. While RFEs get more and
more complicated, the administrative burdens and
the associated costs are on the rise. The
Decision-making timeline on revoking the H-4 EAD
is also pushed from February to June.
MARCH 2018 USCIS has made an announcement to
temporarily halt the premium processing facility
for the H-1B visa applicants.
JULY 2018 The DHS has once again missed the
deadline for making a decision on the H-4 EAD
programme.
SEPTEMBER 2018 H-4 EAD provision is undergoing
review process and was to be submitted to the
White House Office of Management and Budget.
OCTOBER 2018 The Trump administration announced
their plans to redefine the specialty
occupations for H-1B visa eligibility.
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Administrative measures undertaken by the US
government to bring in many H-1B visa changes
NOVEMBER 2018 A new rule was proposed giving
preference to masters students from the US
universities, allowing them for the general CAP
first, and then adding the remaining in the
masters-and-above 20,000 category. This rule
ensures that more of the best and brightest
workers from around the world come to America
under the H-1B process.
JANUARY 2019 A new tweet from Mr. Trump states
that H1-B holders in the United States can rest
assured that changes are soon coming which will
bring both simplicity and certainty to your stay,
including a potential path to citizenship, we
want to encourage talented and highly skilled
people to pursue career options in the U.S."
Though the tweet is a promising one for the
non-immigrants, it is still unclear in the case
of path to citizenship.
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For more information on H-1B process, visit
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