The biggest blow to the IT service sectors is that the new rules limit H-1B visa tenure, where employees must be placed on third-party client sites to a maximum of one year, from the current maximum tenure of three years. In this context, Cyrus D. Mehta, a New York-based immigration attorney, told TOI: “The rule is a total frontal assault on Indian heritage IT service companies, where H-1B employees are generally placed on third party customer sites “.
These rules will lead to more requests for evidence (requiring the sponsoring employer to submit additional evidence) during the visa application verification process, which in turn will lead to delayed and more expensive processing of H-1B visas. and it will lead to more challenging H-1B Workers being hired.
While the largest sponsoring employers of H-1B recipients include American, Indian companies, those in the tech sector, who make up a significant portion of H-1B visa recipients, will be disproportionately affected by the new rules. It will wet the American dream of many aspirants.
In terms of numbers, according to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the immigration agency of the United States government, there are 5.83 lakhs of H-1B workers in the United States. While details by country are not available, there were more than 3.50 lakhs of Indians caught in the green card backlog in the employment category, in November 2019. During the fiscal year ending September 30, 2019, 2.78 lakh, which translates to 72% of the total H-1B visas issued (both new and extended) were given to Indian beneficiaries.
The whole process of issuing the IFRs was put into fast-track mode, while the stated object is the protection of American jobs in the context of the pandemic, at the moment, it makes it seem like a tactic to please the base of President Trump’s votes. Lawsuits will inevitably follow, immigration lawyers say.
The interim final rule, issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), also codifies the requirement that the H-1B sponsoring employer present evidence, such as contracts, work orders, or similar evidence to establish that an employer-employee relationship exists and that the H-1B beneficiary (individual who is sponsored for the visa) will perform services in a specialty occupation at third-party workplaces.
It should be recalled that the United States Federal Court had annulled a policy memorandum dealing with such a requirement. Publish that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) had reached an agreement with the plaintiff: IT Serve Alliance. This order is now voided.
The DHS regulation will be published on October 8 and will go into effect 60 days later, on December 6. On the other hand, the regulation on the increase in the wage requirement issued by the Department of Labor (DOL) comes into effect as of October 8. itself.
A press release issued by DHS states that while the H-1B program was intended to allow employers to fill gaps in their workforce and remain competitive in the global economy, it has now expanded well beyond that, often to the detriment of American workers.
Data shows that more than half a million H-1B nonimmigrants in the US have been used to displace American workers. This has led to lower wages in a number of industries in the US job market and stagnant wages in certain occupations, it adds.
“We have entered an era in which economic security is an integral part of national security. In short, economic security is national security. In response, we must do everything we can within the limits of the law to ensure that the American worker comes first, ”stated Chad Wolf, Acting Secretary of DHS.
“The United States Department of Labor is strengthening wage protections, addressing abuses in these visa programs, and ensuring that American workers are not undermined by cheaper foreign labor,” said the United States Secretary of Labor. , Eugene Scalia. “These changes will strengthen our foreign worker programs and ensure opportunities for American workers to obtain stable, well-paying jobs,” he added in the press release.
However, in a strongly worded statement, Linda Moore, president and CEO of TechNet (an alliance of technology chief executives) stated that it will hurt American companies that depend on H-1B workers. “… Changing the requirements around H-1B and other work visas will only hurt American companies that depend on highly skilled workers in critical positions as we work to grow our national STEM portfolio. This new rule only hurts the United States’ ability to recover from the pandemic during this critical time and has no impact on the growth of domestic jobs in the United States. ”
In your statement, NASSCOM He noted that the announced changes to the H-1B visa program will restrict access to talent and damage the American economy, jeopardize American jobs, jeopardize American interests and slow R&D in solutions to the COVID crisis. It is important for the US market to be able to access qualified talent for their businesses, especially during the COVID recovery phase.
These regulations appear to be based on misinformation about the program and are counterproductive to its very goal of saving the American economy and jobs. This is particularly relevant at a time when American businesses continue to face a huge STEM skills deficit: the overall US unemployment rate grew from 4.1% in January 2020 to 8.4% in August 2020; while unemployment in computer occupations fell from 3% to 2.5% in this period, she explained.
In the 30-day period ending September 28, 2020, more than 652,000 active job openings were posted online for jobs in computer occupations – up from 625,000 job openings in the 30-day period ending May 13 2020. That is, despite high overall unemployment in the US, demand for high-tech skills remains robust, clearly supporting the argument that there simply aren’t enough workers with the relevant skills to fill them. The new rules announced will worsen this talent gap by making it harder for US employers to hire foreign workers, NASSCOM summarized.
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