The H-1B visa, under which employers petition for foreign workers who hold at least a bachelor’s degree, has been in the news this week. The largest percentage of H-1B visa holders are employed in technology fields, though workers in education, health care, finance, engineering and many other fields also obtain the visas. On Monday, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that they received approximately 199,000 petitions from employers seeking H-1B status on behalf of employees for Fiscal Year 2018. As the law makes only 85,000 new H-1B visas available each fiscal year, more than half of the employers and employees will be disappointed in their ability to keep jobs in the United States. While the cap was exceeded, the number of petitions this year was down almost 16 percent from last year’s record of 236,000 petitions.
Then, on Tuesday, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order calling for a complete review of the H-1B visa program, ordering the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, State and Labor to conduct a systematic review of the program. The review instructs the agencies to look at administrative changes that could be made by regulation or policy guidance, but also at legislative changes the administration could propose to Congress. While the administration may be able to make some limited changes administratively, it is likely to need Congress to change the Immigration and Nationality Act for any significant changes in the H-1B visa program to be made.
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