H-1B applications drop 15.68 per cent

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has received 1.99 lakh H-1B applications in 2017, down 15.68 per cent from 2.36 lakh in last year. The agency had opened the H-1B application window on April 3, including petitions filed for the advanced degree exemption.

On April 11, USCIS used a computer generated random selection process to select enough petitions to meet the 65000 general-category cap and the 20000 cap under the advanced degree exemption.

USCIS had earlier issued a memorandum saying that being an entry-level computer programmer would no longer qualify as a specialist profession, which is a must for the issuance of an H-1B work visa. The fresh move by the US agency could have far-reaching implications, impacting both fresh visa applications and renewals.

At the same time, the US President, Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on April 18, directing federal agencies to recommend changes to a temporary visa programme used to bring foreign workers to the United States to fill high-skilled jobs.