US Suspends 'Expedited' H-1B Visas (sfgate.com)

"Starting April 3, 2017, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will temporarily suspend premium processing for all H-1B petitions," read Friday's announcement, which says the suspension "may last up to 6 months." Slashdot reader elrous0 sees it as part of the "ongoing efforts to curb abuses in the controversial H-1B program." The San Francisco Chronicle reports: While it could be difficult to divorce the move Friday from the Trump administration's broader immigration crackdown, some experts believed the agency's decision to be apolitical. "It has everything to do with an understaffed, overworked, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services," said Jason Finkelman, an Austin, Texas, immigration attorney, adding that the wait time for an H-1B visa in California is currently about eight months. However, Vivek Wadhwa, an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Silicon Valley campus in NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, said the suspension seems like a message from the government that you "can't buy your way into America."
Whatever the motivation, Engadget believes this will impact large tech companies. "Financial Times quotes a lawyer saying that 'close to 100 percent' of applications from companies like Microsoft utilize the option."

Comments

Not the first time

[phantomfive]

They also delayed processing in 2015, with the same reason given: so they could catch up on their backlog.

My dream is that Slashdot become a place where people do a little research before commenting irrationally.

Re: Well, that's one thing

[Sesostris III]

3. No limits on the maximum duration of the workweek. The EU's working time directive is a good start.

Luckily we do not live in the EUSSR. If I want to work 80 hours a week, that's my problem. If I don't, I can work somewhere else (H1-Bs can do that too).

OK. I'm in the EU (for the moment), so I'll respond to this. You as an individual can opt of the 48 hour week. That is your choice. However you can't be forced to opt out (expect in those occupations where it would be dangerous to do so).

https://www.gov.uk/maximum-weekly-working-hours/weekly-maximum-working-hours-and-opting-out

So what's with the "EUSSR" label?