USCIS Received More H1B visa Applications

USCIS received more than 65,000 H1B visa applications for the 16th year in row ever since the yearly cap was introduced in 1990. The government agency announced on April 6, 2018, that they received congressionally-mandated 65,000 H1B visa cap for 2019 financial year that will begin in October 2018. The spokesperson also mentioned that they received enough applications for the 20,000 H1B visa category issued to skilled immigrants with a US advanced degree in any STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields.

Before 1990, there was no cap on H1B visas issued yearly, which was definitely not a well-planned move because they clearly didn’t anticipate how it will adjust to the future, increasing demands. To cut down the number of immigrants coming to the US through H1B visa system, Donald Trump, president of the United States, by overburdening it with requirements or scrapping working authority of H4 workers isn’t going to help.

The American economy will definitely crash if H1B workers form a unity and start leaving the country. They already have a good amount of experience and will land a high paying job in Canada, Germany, or Australia, all of which are looking forward to any chance that brings the highly skilled worker to them. Every year, the USCIS gives away 85,000 H1B visas, which makes up only 0.05 percent of the total 160 million workers in the US. So Trump saying that H1B workers are replacing local workers or throwing them out of work doesn’t make any sense at all.

Hindering employment opportunities

According to famous American economists including Anna Maria Mayda, Kevin Shih, Francesc Ortega, Giovanni Peri, and Chad Sparber agree that restrictions put on H1B visa system hinder employment of the highly skilled foreign-born workers. It was also observed that American companies that generally hire H1B workers wouldn’t change their business protocol to hire locals.