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Computer Programmers May No Longer Be Eligible For H-1B Visas [Update] (axios.com)
Two anonymous readers share a report: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services quietly over the weekend released new guidance that computer programmers are no longer presumed to be eligible for H-1B visas. This aligns with the administration's focus on reserving the temporary visas for very high-skilled (and higher-paid) professionals while encouraging low- and mid-level jobs to go to American workers instead. The new guidance affects applications for the lottery for 2018 fiscal year that opened Monday. Companies applying for H-1B visas for computer programming positions will have to submit additional evidence showing that the jobs are complex or specialized and require professional degrees. From a Bloomberg report, which has confirmation: The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services department issued a memorandum that makes it harder for companies to bring foreign technology workers to the U.S. using the H-1B visa process. The new guidelines, issued late Friday, require additional information for computer programmers applying for the work visa to prove the jobs are complicated and require more advanced knowledge and experience. The new policy is effective immediately, so it will change how companies apply for the visas in an annual lottery process that begins Monday. Indian outsourcing firms, which have faced the most amount of criticism, stand to lose the most. The changes don't explicitly prohibit any applications for a specific type of job. Instead, they bring more scrutiny to those for computer programmers doing the simplest jobs.
After reading the recommendations, computer programmers as a profession are not being limited. Programmers who only have an associates degree will be limited. I'm not sure how many H1-B holders only have associates degrees, but I haven't met any.
-- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
USCIS has already considered Computer Programmer positions more skeptically. to qualify for an H-1B, the position has to require at minimum a bachelor's degree in a specialty field, or the equivalent. some Programmer positions are complex and require this, some do not.
the weird thing is, USCIS should already know this: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/comput...
seems like USCIS officers are about as well trained as TSA officers
While I'm not a Trump fan, our immigration laws regarding H1-B visa applications have been ignored by the Obama administration in the interests of big business (especially Google and Disney). We are supposed to be protecting American jobs and we have plenty of qualified IT professional (some unemployed). Companies were illegally hiring foreign (Indian in particular) professional to replace IT workers at a reduced salary. It's not to say that foreign IT workers are bad, but citizens come first. The procedures are clear: Show you are unable to find someone in the USA (you are supposed to show job postings and let a reasonable amount of time and show lack of qualifications of the applications) before you apply for a foreign worker visa.
"Imagination is more important than knowledge" - Einstein
Re:And you don't think they will make up *more* stuff
FTFY. If you've ever reviewed some of those H1B resumes, or interviewed the candidates, you know they've already been making stuff up for quite a while.
007: "Who are you?"
Pussy: "My name is Pussy Galore."
007: "I must be dreaming..."