Companies seeking to hire programmers using the H-1B visa will have to prove the requirement is for a specialised position, for which high wages will have to be paid accordingly. This takes away the cost advantage of hiring cheap from, say India.
Computer programmers in India looking to head to the US would find their long-held dream dashed. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued a policy memorandum to change the rules with regard to American companies hiring programmers from outside the country using H-1B visas.
1)What Changed:The USCIS, in a policy memorandum dated March 31, 2017, has rescinded a December 22, 2000 “Guidance memo on H1B computer related positions”. In a gist, it means companies looking to sponsor H-1B visas to hire programmers must now prove that it is a specialised position.
2)Visas only for specialised positions:Companies will have to convince the USCIS that the jobs for which H-1B visas are being sought are complex and require a specialist with professional degrees. Earlier several American companies hired lower-qualified and lower-paid programmers from countries like India using H-1B visas to cut costs.
3)Companies lose low-cost advantage:By making it a specialised position, the government is ensuring that high wages are paid for the post. If high wages are paid, the companies lose the cost advantage of hiring non-Americans.
4)Make America Employed Again:This change in rule is in keeping with the Donald Trump administration’s attempt at keeping employment in American companies as local as possible, so that Americans do not lose out jobs to foreigners who can be paid less than them.
5)Silver lining for H-1B visa aspirants: The US has just began accepting H-1B visa applications for 2018 from April 3. Every year 85,000 applications are processed, with 20,000 of them being reserved for those with advanced degrees. As the policy change has been introduced last minute, companies could challenge the new rule, saying sufficient notice was not provided to them.