The US Department of Homeland Security on Sept. 3 sent a new H-1B visa regulation to the Office of Management and Budget for final review. The visas are used by highly skilled foreign workers.
And Al Jazeera reports The Trump Administration is working to toughen the H-1B process before the end of the year.
Proposed rule. The proposed rule would “revise the definition of specialty occupation to increase focus on obtaining the best and the brightest foreign nationals via the H-1B program, and revise the definition of employment and employer-employee relationship to better protect US workers and wages,” according to a description of the rule. In addition, DHS will propose additional requirements designed to ensure employers pay appropriate wages to H-1B visa holders.
Three significant elements of the new regulation include:
- The regulation will be published as an “interim final rule,” which would allow it to go into effect immediately without public input but also makes the rule more vulnerable to legal challenge;
- The regulation will impose a new, restrictive definition of a “specialty occupation” for H-1B visa holders; and
- The rule will make it more difficult for H-1B professionals to conduct work at third-party customer locations.
The Office of Management and Budget has 90 days to review the regulation and once it clears the regulation, it is likely to take effect immediately, moneycontrol.com reported. However, it could take less than 90 days for the agency to review given the rule’s importance to the Trump administration.
The Trump administration has restricted H-1B visas more than any previous administration, but it has done so without issuing a new regulation, Forbes reported. And although this long-anticipated rule is expected to be published soon, it is almost certain to be challenged in court.
Research released by the National Foundation for American Policy, a nonpartisan research organization, also corroborates the fact that companies continue to be denied H-1B visas at much higher rates than in the years prior to new policies established by the Trump administration though all types of visas have been under scrutiny.
