This is what you must know about the H-1B Visas and other US Immigration Programs in 2022

visamintdigital Jan 20, 2022 05:21 1816 0

The US Immigration Department is making many reforms. Several H-1B rules are now to be considered under the Biden regimen. Here is what is stated on the Government website.

“Median annual compensation for all approved H-1B beneficiaries in FY 2020 was $101,000,” according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data, and 64% possess a master’s degree or higher.

- Numerous academic and government studies show H-1B visa holders are paid the same or higher than comparable U.S. professionals. U.S. law requires employers to pay the higher the actual or prevailing wage paid to U.S. workers with similar experience and qualifications.

On top of wages, U.S. employers pay between $5,000 to $30,000 in legal and government fees to petition for H-1B professionals and $10,000 to $15,000 to sponsor them for permanent residence, according to the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP).

- There are more than 1.5 million job vacancy postings in computer occupations (as of December 6, 2021), according to an NFAP analysis of EMSI data, and only about 56,000 new H-1B petitions annually go to computer jobs. That means even if one believes (incorrectly), there are a fixed number of positions, and there are close to 30 times more available jobs in computer occupations than H-1Bs who fill such jobs annually.

As the data above illustrates, critics of H-1B visas make one primary—and untrue—claim that H-1B visa holders are “cheap labor” rather than valuable employees contributing to the U.S. economy. Restricting H-1B visas prevents international students from working in the U.S. after graduation and does not address the per-country limit and lack of green cards that harm employment-based immigrants, particularly those from India. The potentially decades-long waits for permanent residence limits mobility, discourage entrepreneurship and encourage talented individuals to make their careers in other countries.

As for U.S.-born professionals, economist Madeline Zavodny found, “Median earnings of [native] college graduates with a computer-related major are 35 percent higher than other STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) majors and fully 83 percent higher than non-STEM majors.”

According to a Federal Register notice published on December 29, 2021, the State Department has proposed a rule to increase fees for workers, travelers, international students, and exchange visitors in 2022. If the rule goes into effect, visa fees will increase as follows:

- The visa fee will increase from $160 to $245 per application for “business and tourist travel (B1/B2); students and exchange visitors (F, M, and J); crew and transit visas (C and D); representatives of foreign media (I), and other country-specific visa classes, as well as BCCs [Border Crossing Cards] for applicants age 15 or older who are citizens of and resident in Mexico.”

- The visa fee will increase from $190 to $310 for “all petition based NIVs [non-immigrant visas] related to employment in the United States.” This includes “temporary workers and trainees (H); intracompany transferees (L); aliens of extraordinary ability (O); athletes, artists, and entertainers (P); international cultural exchange participants (Q); and religious workers (R).”

- “The Department also proposes to increase the E category NIV fee from $205 to $485.” (See here for more on E visas.)

- The State Department proposes to raise from $120 to $510 the cost of a waiver of the two-year home-country physical presence requirement for J-1 exchange visitors who are “subject to a two-year home-country physical presence requirement.”

All the content mentioned above is teeming with immigration jargon. It would help if you visited VisaMint Overseas Services to understand the new immigration policies of the US better. Our immigration experts will help you understand everything quickly, and then you can act on how to move ahead with your US immigration desires. Just stop by one of our branches and make it happen. You might want to WhatsApp or write us an email in any case. The minute we get your message, you will hear from us! We are comfortable that way too.