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Federal officials tighten rules for programmers ...


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Federal officials tighten rules for programmers ...


seeking H-1B visa


As the federal government braced for an avalanche of applications for the highly coveted H-1B work visa Monday, immigration officials quietly shifted some ground rules.

 

The immigration agency said Monday it will take a “more targeted approach” in choosing employers whose workers receive visas.


And under guidance issued late Friday, a computer programmer with a bachelor’s degree is not automatically eligible for an H-1B visa — a reversal of a 17-year-old federal policy.

 

The H-1B visa program, which allows foreign workers with specialized skills to spend three to six years working at a sponsor company in the U.S., has been a constant point of contention between Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C.

 


While Northern California tech companies as established as Google and as fresh as startups rely on H-1B visas to staff many engineering positions, critics say the program is rife with loopholes that allow companies to squeeze out American workers in favor of foreigners willing to work for lower wages.

 

Reforming the H-1B program was one of President Trump’s campaign promises.

 


In an attempt to “deter and detect H-1B visa fraud and abuse” the immigration agency said it will continue “random and unannounced” visits around the country to H-1B-dependent companies.

 

The agency will focus on companies that have a high ratio of H-1B workers, and companies whose H-1B workers work at an office other than the employer’s.

 

Indian technology-outsourcing companies like Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys, which submit tens of thousands of visa requests a year, could be a particular target.

 

“Too many American workers who are as qualified, willing and deserving to work in these fields have been ignored or unfairly disadvantaged,” the agency said in a statement.

 

“Protecting American workers by combatting fraud in our employment-based immigration programs is a priority.”

 

The Justice Department also warned employers petitioning for H1-B visas not to discriminate against American workers.


“U.S. workers should not be placed in a disfavored status, and the department is wholeheartedly committed to investigating and vigorously prosecuting these claims,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Tom Wheeler said in a statement Monday.

 

To qualify for an H-1B, an applicant has to be in a “specialty occupation,” defined as a job complex or unique enough that at least a bachelor’s degree is required.

 

Under previous guidance, programming was assumed to qualify. According to a memo issued by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services on Friday, employers now must provide additional evidence that any computer programmer job they want to fill with a foreign worker is so complex and specialized that it requires at least a bachelor’s degree.

 


Coding academies and education websites have sprung up in recent years that promise to teach software skills faster and cheaper than colleges.

 


Sharon Rummery, an agency spokeswoman, said the memorandum overturned obsolete guidelines that had not been used as a standard for years.

 


Stacey Gartland, an attorney and immigration specialist at the law firm Van Der Hout, Brigagliano & Nightingale, said that the original memo, crafted in 2000, was created “at a time when the computer industry was newer, and the immigration office was getting lots of H-1B petitions for jobs that had not previously existed.

 

They weren’t sure how to evaluate them,” Gartland said.

 

But some lawyers argue that the new guidance, which is effective immediately, muddies the language of who is eligible for the visa and will likely target lower-paid and entry-level positions.

 

The agency now has more latitude to question whether a foreign worker is needed for a specific position over an American citizen.

 

Applicants vying for an H-1B are typically required to spell out the nature of their duties, and why a bachelor’s degree is required to perform them.

 


“Generally, computer-related positions used to qualify for an H-1B, but what this new memo is saying is, ‘No, not every single computer-related position is a high-skill position,’” said Jason Finkelman, an Austin-based immigration attorney.

 


According to the Foreign Labor Certification Data Center, a computer programmer is defined as someone who “may develop and write computer programs to store, locate, and retrieve specific documents, data, and information.”


The average salary for a programmer in Santa Clara County ranges from $52,229 to $93,933 a year.

 

There is no minimum education or training level specified.

 

Finkelman said some employers who filed for an H-1B application for a computer programmer Monday may get a request from the government to prove that the position could not be filled with a U.S. worker without a bachelor’s degree.

 


“Depending on how (the agency) decides to adjudicate, they could deny a whole bunch of H-1Bs, even though people have a bachelor’s degree,” said Greg Siskind, an immigration attorney.

 


The new provision regarding computer programmers is yet another abrupt change to the H-1B application process under the Trump administration.

 

Last month the agency temporarily suspended its expedited processing program, used last year by 59 percent of applicants, who pay a fee for a faster decision.

 

With uncertainty over the fate of the program under the Trump administration, combined with a strong economy, immigration attorneys expect a surge in applications this year.

 

The applications, which overwhelmingly come from India, have nearly doubled since 2014, but the number of visas granted to for-profit companies has remained 85,000 per year.

 

For fiscal year 2017, United States Citizens and Immigration Services received a record 236,000 H-1B applications.

 

Several immigration attorneys expect 250,000 to 300,000 petitions this year. For a number of years, the government has received so many H-1B applications that it typically stops accepting them within a week.

 

http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Federal-officials-tighten-rules-for-programmers-11047003.php?ipid=articlerecirc

 

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