A recent report based on an analysis of government data shows troubling increases in denials of H-1B visas, the leading avenue through which foreign-born professionals with specialized knowledge are able to legally work for U.S. employers who need their talent.
The report by the National Foundation for American Policy analyzed data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and found that denials of initial H-1B visa petitions quadrupled between FY 2015 and FY 2018, and in the first quarter of FY 2019 increased to 34% from 24% in FY 2018.
More concerning is the increase in denials of extensions for current H-1B visa employees. H-1B visas are issued for terms of up to 3 years. However, extensions are available, and are particularly critical so that employers can retain their employees while they are on waiting lists for permanent residency that can be more than a decade long.
Normally, if there is no change in the employer or in the position held by the H-1B employee, extensions are routinely granted. The NFAP data analysis found that denials of H-1B visa extension applications tripled from 4% in FY 2016 to 12% in FY 2018, and in the first quarter of FY 2019, 18% of extension requests were denied.
This article in Wired provides a glimpse of the human toll of these spikes in denials on talented immigrants who have lived and worked here legally for years, buying homes, paying taxes, raising children here.
The impact on employers who will lose valuable employees, during a time of sustained low unemployment, and when there are a million more job openings than there are job seekers is also significant.
As the report notes:
If the goal of the Trump administration is to make it much more difficult for well-educated foreign nationals to work in America in technical fields, then USCIS is accomplishing that goal. If the administration’s goals include more international students attending non-U.S. universities and making their careers someplace other than America, and for U.S. companies to transfer more work and plans for growth to Canada and elsewhere, then those goals are also being accomplished.
The increase in H-1B denials echoes a larger trend of increases in overall denials of applications for legal status and for naturalization to U.S. citizen by the current administration, as reported by the Cato Institute.
The recent changes in H-1B adjudications have occurred purely through administrative action, without input from Congress, or the notice and comment period normally required for substantive changes in interpretation of the immigration laws. The changes are being legally challenged in the federal courts. Stay tuned.