{"id":48847,"date":"2017-10-26T05:52:03","date_gmt":"2017-10-26T05:52:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=48847"},"modified":"2017-10-26T05:52:03","modified_gmt":"2017-10-26T05:52:03","slug":"trump-tightens-h-1b-visa-rules-what-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/trump-tightens-h-1b-visa-rules-what-you-need-to-know.html","title":{"rendered":"Trump tightens H-1B visa rules: What you need to know"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trump tightens H-1B visa rules: What you need to know<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

This morning\u2019s headline at one Indian news website said it all: \u201cTrouble for Indian Techies\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The \u201ctrouble\u201d is coming from a move by the Trump administration that will raise the bar for H-1B visa holders in the United States seeking to renew their permits to work here. Also impacted by the directive announced this week is the L1 visa, which is popular among foreign IT professionals. The Trump team wants visa holders to carry the burden of proof not only when applying for an H-1B the first time, but every time an extension is sought.<\/span><\/p>\n

And that will surely make an already complicated application process even more onerous.Here\u2019s what you need to know:<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s happening with the H-1B?<\/span><\/p>\n

The Trump Administration is toughening the rules for visa holders who want to extend their stay in the U.S.<\/span><\/p>\n

Who\u2019s doing this?<\/span><\/p>\n

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s the new procedure?<\/span><\/p>\n

Until now, immigration officials considering a visa extension have deferred to prior eligibility decisions for that applicant\u2019s visa. In other words, if someone was declared eligible for an H1-B in the past, their extension was pretty much a done deal and no major re-application steps were required. But in a memo released late Monday, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services dumped that policy and instead ordered its officers to apply the same level of scrutiny to an extension request as they had to the initial application, consistent with policies \u201cthat protect the interests of U.S. workers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s this mean for visa holders?<\/span><\/p>\n

Obviously, visa holders seeking an extension will face the same intense scrutiny they faced when they first applied, which according to those who have gone through the process is a daunting and labor-intensive proposition.<\/span><\/p>\n

Typically, the visas are used in places like Silicon Valley to bring in workers from overseas who possess certain specialized work skills that, according to the companies hiring them, are hard to find in sufficient numbers among American-born job applicants. Normally good for three years, the visas can be extended in one-to-three-year increments.<\/span><\/p>\n

Who will this new rule impact?<\/span><\/p>\n

Besides the thousands of employment-based visa holders who want to remain working in the United States after their initial permit has expired, the rule change will be another blow to companies, and especially large tech firms in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, that rely on H-1B visas to bring in highly skilled software engineers and product managers from other countries. The companies typically do a lot of the application work for visa holders.<\/span><\/p>\n

What will this process look like on the ground?<\/span><\/p>\n

The directive specifies that more questions be asked of visa applicants by immigration officers, theoretically ensuring that only the cream of the crop among applicants are allowed to stay in the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

What else has Trump done to tighten up visa rules?<\/span><\/p>\n

Last March, in what the tech community saw as an ominous sign for Silicon Valley\u2019s ability to import tech workers, the Trump administration\u2019s immigration gatekeepers announced they would suspend fast-tracking of H-1B visas. Such moves are especially worrisome in the Bay Area where companies like Google, Facebook and Apple have come to depend heavily on workers holding these coveted passes.<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s the broader context here?<\/span><\/p>\n

The new rules are not terribly surprising given the Trump Administration\u2019s overall protect-American-workers philosophy. White House officials over the past few months have made it clear again and again that they think the entire application process is vulnerable to abuse by applicants and that skilled foreign workers, no matter how much companies like Google and Facebook say they need them to succeed, are taking jobs away from Americans.<\/span><\/p>\n

How will this play out in India?<\/span><\/p>\n

Not well. Immigration experts say H-1B visa holders coming from India make up 70.9 of all beneficiaries. So any rules making it harder for Indian workers to come here could lead to an angry backlash in that country and among the Indian U.S. companies that hire them. Outplacement firms in India like Infosys could also be hurt by the new rules. The announcement this week comes after Indian\u2019s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj recently told U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that the United States must not make any decision adversely impacting Indian people.<\/span><\/p>\n

What does the directive actually say?<\/span><\/p>\n

India.com reported that the agency\u2019s previous memorandum of April 23, 2004, appeared to place the burden of proof on the agency itself. But, the new directive from the USCIS \u201cmemorandum makes it clear that the burden of proof remains on the petitioner, even where an extension of non-immigrant status is sought.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the government\u2019s wording: \u201cIn adjudicating petitions for immigration benefits, including non-immigrant petition extensions, adjudicators must, in all cases, thoroughly review the petition and supporting evidence to determine eligibility for the benefit sought. The burden of proof in establishing eligibility is, at all times, on the petitioner.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0http:\/\/www.mercurynews.com\/2017\/10\/25\/trump-tightens-h-1b-visa-rules-what-you-need-to-know\/<\/span><\/p>\n

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