H-1B visa applications have dropped for second year in a row

Saturday, April 14, 2018

US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced the number of H-1B applications dropped for the second consecutive year.

The number of H-1B application has dropped for the second consecutive year according to the US Citizenship and immigration Services.The visa most often used by the tech industry permits the American companies to hire highly-skilled foreign workers.
But this year it received 190,098 applications showing a remarkable drop from the 199,000 applications in 2017 according to the U.S Citizenship and Immigration.

For the first time since 2014 the applications went down to 200,000 with 2016 representing the peak when 236,000 applications were received.
Demand for the visa continues to outstrip supply despite the falling numbers. For profit-companies only 85,000 H-1B visas are issues for-profit companies each year- a limit which has not been revised since 2005.

 
Research institutions, non-profits and hospitals are exempted from the cap.
So far there is no immediate cause of the decline but the Trump administration and Republican-controlled congress alike have taken steps to make the acquisition of the visas more tough.
The Protect and Grow American Jobs Act was passed by the House Judiciary Committee which made it more difficult for the H-1B dependent companies to obtain work permits.
While a policy memo was issued in February which outlined a number of additional requirements to verify the nature of the relationship between the prospective employers and their employees.

 
Companies and visa applicants might find the added steps as a deterrent and might look for visa which can be easily approved.

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