Lorena Sanchez-Gallastegui
As you grow up, you work hard and you go to school for a great portion of your life with the hope that you’ll find what is considered a ‘good’ job. You might even get a Master’s degree so as to better your chances but upon leaving school you realize your home country is newly industrialized and there are no jobs asking for your qualifications. But you’re not about to waste your efforts so you move, more specifically to the United States with an H1-B Visa.
The H1-B visa system is the largest active guest worker visa program that operates on the basis of filling high-skilled gaps in the American work force with foreigners. Each visa is granted through ‘an employer-driven system’, meaning that in order for the government to grant the visa it must first be petitioned for by an employer. Before petition by the employer however, comes the process of applicants finding an employer to petition for their visa. According to their education level, applicants will fall under either the regular H1B quota of 65,000 or the Master’s degree quota of an additional 20,000. Another category that may apply to applicants from Chile and Singapore is a 6,800 visa quota as part of the Free Trade Agreement. So 6,800 spots are available for citizens of Chile and Singapore, 20,000 spots for those with Master’s degrees and 65,00 for the rest of the applicant populous. Everyone of them has to find an employer willing to hire them and undergo the lengthy petition process. Initial filing fees vary from $1,575 to $2,325 rates just for the act of petitioning, not including additional attorney fees which may be critical to the applicant. In the petition by the employer, the company must include the position and its exact duties, strict dates of employment for the visa, detailed description of the applicant and what the company will require from them, salary offered and contact information. This is only the first step.
Wages of the H1-B worker as defined in the initial report by the employer will then be discussed and confirmed by the State Security Agency. In doing this, the State Security Agency is ensuring that the foreign worker will not be working below minimum wage of the state in which they will be employed. Wages must also not be considered excessive as that imbalance would be rendered as the employer taking away from other ‘similarly employed’ American employees. Failing to do so could create grounds for a lawsuit from the applicant as it could be considered worker exploitation and would put not only the company they are working for in trouble but government agencies as well.
Once the terms of employment are defined exactly and wages have been discussed and approved, the employer must prove that hiring the H1-B worker at hand will not ‘adversely affect the wages and working conditions’ of US workers within the company or firm. In summarization, the elements of this provision include assurance that the applicant and existing employees are treated and paid equally regardless of their different situations. This must all be properly documented and included on a labor condition application (LCA) which will serve as physical proof to the government. Additionally, all existing workers of the firm must be informed of the intention to hire and H1-B worker. There will be no misunderstandings between employer and employee this way as the transaction is made entirely transparent to the employees and will assuredly not be disruptive to them.
After all of the work by the employer and the applicant has been completed, the petition must be prepared and filed at the proper United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (UCIS) office. Processing times are lengthy despite whether or not you expedite your petition, approval takes time. Of the thousands who apply for the Regular H1B, only 33-48% will be approved. More promising is the 75-86% of approval for those who hold more advanced degrees such as Masters or Doctorates. After this step, it is all in the hands of the US government.
Executive Order 13788 has put this policy under ‘scrutiny’ as it ‘directs federal agencies to review whether existing policies adequately prioritize American products and protect American workers’. Such scrutiny creates the perfect opportunity to refine the system so as to please all parties involved. In a Forbes article about the topic, the proposition of California Representative Zoe Lufgren is defined as a ‘type of auction mechanism’ where the company that bids highest will receive preference in filling high skilled gaps within their company. So as to not discredit startups, there would be several H1-B Visa spots set aside for them.
Prosperity becomes a possibility when ensuring that American firms are globally competitive. This feat can be achieved through programs, such as that of the H1-B visas, that take into account global perspectives to create something new, something innovative, and something American in its roots in the sense that it harbors a relentless spirit and strives for improvement.
Immigration and Economics 