Current restrictions on work visas

The US offers the H-1B Visa program for qualified foreign workers, mainly focused on areas such as technology, science, research, engineering, inter alia.

Thousands of skilled workers choose the US over other countries to gain work experience, contribute to socioeconomic development, and they greatly benefit local companies.

Currently, the issuance of most work visas is on hold due to a presidential proclamation recently published by the White House.

Broadly speaking, President Trump announced in late June 2020, that work visas for qualified foreigners will be suspended until the end of the year. With this, the current administration of the US intends to:

• Protect the jobs of American citizens.
• Lower the current unemployment rate.
• Avoid labor competition between citizens and foreigners.
• Encourage local companies to offer available jobs only to the local population.
• Prevent immigrants from using benefits that are essential to overcome the current juncture.

Clearly, there are multiple exceptions to this rule. For instance, work visas related to the US food supply chain are not affected by this presidential proclamation.

Do you have a business immigration case? Contact our team of experts.

The USCIS regulations for employment visas

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is the federal entity in charge of processing work visa applications for qualified foreigners.

Normally, it is the employer who must request permission from the USCIS to be able to bring specialized workers from abroad.

There are certain requirements that employers must meet in order to receive a positive response from the USCIS, such as demonstrating that there are no trained local personnel to fill the job position. Otherwise, if mandatory requirements are not met, the H-1B Visa request will be denied.

Therefore, due to the presidential proclamation banning the issuance of work visas, apart from a few exceptions, hundreds of applications from local employers have been rejected in recent months.

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Recent study shows current denials of employment visas

The National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) recently released a study, showing official figures for denials of H-1B Visa applications by the USCIS.

The study shows that, in recent history of the US, the highest number of denied employment visa applications was in 2018, when President Trump had already took office.

However, after the emergency measure implemented on work visas during the current health crisis, 2020 now surpasses the record of 2018, with 29% of denials of H-1B Visa applications.

The analysis of the study involves several important companies such as Google, Amazon, Apple, Intel, Facebook, Microsoft, inter alia.

These companies benefit greatly from foreign workforce and in fact, many of them have openly stated their disagreement with Trump’s immigration policies and the suspension of employment visas.

Do you have a pending immigration case?

The US is still the main epicenter of the global Coronavirus pandemic. However, despite this fact, many sectors are resuming their regular tasks and we are learning step by step how to live with current circumstances.

Therefore, it is possible that the Trump administration will lift this restriction on work visas before the end of the year.

For now, if you have an immigration case, be it family, business, deportation case, appeal, waiver, adjustment of status or any other, it is imperative for you to follow the advice of a reliable guide, who can help you choose the right process and lead you towards the success of your immigration request.

If you have any questions about an immigration issue or relating to a case you may have currently in progress, then please don’t hesitate to contact us for a FREE Phone Consultation with one of our expert immigration attorneys.

Simply call Motion Law today at: (202) 918-1799.