The administration of President Donald Trump is calling for a regulation to replace the lottery-based visa-granting system for the controversial H-1B visa with a wage-based process, but the change may not apply under the incoming administration of the president-elect Joe Biden does not.
U.S. citizenship and immigration services posted the new rule Thursday and are expected to officially release it tomorrow.
It will issue H-1B visas – intended for jobs requiring specialized skills – based on workers’ salaries, with higher-paying positions being preferred.
The Trump administration has dramatically curtailed the H-1B program and dramatically increased visa denials for staff companies and outsourcers who contract foreign workers. Critics have accused these companies and their client firms of using the H-1B to oust American workers, cut wages and send jobs abroad. Major technology companies, which hire H-1B employees directly and also through staffing companies, are pushing for the extension of the annual limit of 85,000 for new visas, arguing that the visa is necessary to ensure the world’s best talent.
Research by left-wing Economic Policy Institute and Howard University professor Ron Hira, who is studying the H-1B, found that IT staffing companies such as Infosys, Deloitte and Cognizant applied for a large number of H-1B employees at the 2019 H-1B second lowest wage levels, while Bay Area technology giants Google, Apple, Cisco and Oracle had a mix of higher and lower levels.
A Biden spokesman said late last month that his government would suspend or delay all regulations enacted by the Trump administration in its heyday.