There was a sharp 10% decline in the approval of H-1B visas by the U.S. in the fiscal year 2018, which experts attributed to the “aggressive” policies of the Trump administration to clamp down on the use of the work visa programme, popular among highly skilled Indian IT professionals.
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows U.S. companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) approved 3,35,000 H-1B visas, both new and renewable, in the fiscal year 2018. This was 10% less than the 373,400 visas approved in the previous fiscal year of 2017, according to the USCIS’ annual statistical report.
The approval rate of H-1B declined from 93% in 2017 to 85% in 2018. “This administration has aggressively pursued strategies to clamp down on the use of the H-1B programme, and these efforts are now showing in the data,” Migration Policy Institute analyst Sarah Pierce was quoted as saying in a news report.
For the first six months of this fiscal year, the “overall H-1B approval rate for new and continuing visas continued to plummet to 79% by the end of March, down from 85% last year”.
“Buy American and Hire American” executive order seeks to create higher wages and employment rates for U.S. workers.
