Arrivals: This Week in Immigration News (10.22.2018 – 10.26.2018)

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THE STORY: New data shows that Indian companies may be decreasing their use of H-1B visas. This comes in the wake of the Trump administration increasing scrutiny of H-1B applications filed by Indian companies.

THE CONTEXT: Only one Indian firm was in the top 10 list of companies that filed Labor Condition Applications (LCAs) in the 2018 fiscal year. While LCAs don’t always correspond one-to-one with H-1B applicants, they tend to be a reliable indicator of how many H-1B applicants a company has each year. In 2018, Tata Consultancy Services was the only Indian company in the list of top 10 companies with the most LCAs. In previous years there were three or four Indian companies on the top ten list. The change could be due to the Trump administration increasing scrutiny on H-1B visa applications filed by Indian companies. H-1B applications filed by Indian companies have recently faced increased scrutiny and are seeing a higher rate of rejection.

WHAT’S NEXT: With H-1B visas harder to come by, multinational Indian companies are starting to focus on hiring workers in America, as well as creating offices in nearby countries like Guatemala and Mexico.

Read further in this article from Quartz India.

THE STORY: A proposed change to the H-1B lottery system would benefit tech firms like Google and Facebook, while hurting visa outsourcing companies.

THE CONTEXT: The Department of Homeland Security proposed a new rule which would give H-1B visa applicants with master’s degrees or higher, preference in the visa lottery. The move would benefit big tech companies, who often hire H-1B visa holders who tend to have master’s degrees and above. On the flip side, visa outsourcing companies, who often get visas for bachelor’s degree holders, could see more of their applications getting turned down. A Howard University professor found that the rule change would give around 4,000 more visas to applicants with advanced degrees.

WHAT’S NEXT: It’s expected that the new lottery process will be officially announced sometime this fall, but it’s unclear whether it be will instituted by the H-1B lottery this spring.

Read further in this article from the East Bay Times.

THE STORY: The Department of Homeland Security has released a series of new regulations, which include changes to the EB-5 investor visa.

THE CONTEXT: The DHS is preparing to make changes to visas like the EB-5 investor visa and the H-2B guest worker program. The changes overall seek to modernize the visas and clamp down on fraud. For example, the DHS wants to increase the amount someone needs to invest in a U.S. business in order to qualify for a EB-5. Currently, a foreign national investing at least $500,000 in a company that creates at least 10 American jobs can qualify for a EB-5. In addition, the DHS and DOL are proposing updating the H-2B guest worker visa, getting rid of a requirement that makes employers advertise jobs in newspapers.

WHAT’S NEXT: The DHS says it plans on finalizing the EB-5 regulation in November. It’s unclear when the H-2B regulation will be finalized.

Read further on this via USCIS.