The Employer-Employee Relationship
A key factor in the ability to obtain an H-1B visa is evidence of the employer-employee relationship. Without a legitimate employer sponsoring the petition, a foreign worker can’t submit the paperwork (with very few exceptions).
Yet, many employers and employees have used loopholes in this system to abuse the program. USCIS wishes to address this problem and crack down on fraud and abuse by changing the definition of an H-1B employer-employee relationship.
They also plan to enhance the guidelines that discuss employer site visits, how amended and new H-1B visa petitions work when there are changes in employment, and how F-1 students change to H-1B status.
Biden’s H-1B Changes to the Trump Administration
It’s not a surprise to anyone that the Trump administration significantly reduced the number of H-1B approvals while increasing the denial rate to 24% by the fiscal year 2018. The reformation attempts went further than that, with a lottery system focus on favoring applicants with higher salaries and those who had special skills and advanced degrees.
Gradually, some of the immigration policies developed by the Trump administration expired. Since then, the H-1B denial rate decreased to 4%. Now, USCIS’s proposal is on the table for 2023, and the original agendas touched on modernizing the H-1B requirements without many details. The Department of Justice attorneys have pushed to keep the Homeland Security rules established by Trump that adjusted the H-1B wages to stay in alignment with the law.
Continued Debate Rages
The political arena is full of many volatile topics, and the H-1B visa is set to be one of those discussed and reformed in 2023. The arguments that tech companies frequently abuse the visa and adversely affect the US economy by importing “cheap” labor from overseas will be addressed, as will Trump-era policies set to expire soon.
What’s Next?
What do these changes mean for you? Whether you’re an employer of H-1B visa holders or the beneficiary, you must stay on top of the political temperature in America. When changes occur, as they did with COVID and the new administrations, these new laws impact you, your employees, and your family directly.
That’s why it’s crucial that you partner with an immigration expert you can trust to let you know when these changes are on the horizon. Our attorneys at Visa2US are available every day to answer your questions and help you understand the challenges on the path to obtaining and keeping an H-1B document.
Contact us today, online or over the phone, to find out how our experts can save you time and money during your H-1B visa journey.
