Over the weekend, US Citizenship and Immigration Services USCIS released a new guide line that went unnoticed by many. This guidance states that Computer Programmers might no longer be eligible for the H1B visas. This hush-hush notification release has sent shock waves through many programmers that were hoping to travel to the US.
What does it Mean:
This decision means that the Trump Administration is reserving high qualification and highly paid jobs for temporary visas so that the low and mid level jobs can be allotted to American workers. This new rule is applicable from 2018 H1B Visa lottery that has started on Monday.
What next:
All the companies applying for Computer Programmers H1B visas will have to submit documents proving that these jobs are complex and need professional degrees. Also, the lower and entry level job visas will attract more scrutiny. This move is presumed to be targeting the outsourcing companies that employ lower level computer workers.
A spokesperson from the USCIS said that this new guidance is not a policy change and is just a clarification of the existing policies. However, an immigration attorney clarified that the guide line will increase the scrutiny for H1B visa applicants in the computer programmer category. He said that “It’s not a substantial development” and there might be changes in this rule.
While the programmers can still apply for H1B, there will be tighter scrutiny and limits on the number of programmers that are recruited from outside the US to the Silicon Valley.
