US Set to Ease H-1B Visa Rules

The United States has recognized that its investments in the Chips and Science Act will create a demand for skilled jobs that cannot be filled from domestic sources alone. To address this issue, the US Economic Innovation Group (EIG) has proposed revisions to the H-1B Visa program to facilitate the recruitment of foreign workers.

Deficiencies in the current H-1B Visa program have been identified:

• The lottery system does not reward specific attributes or allocate visas to industries most in need.
• Currently, there is an annual allocation of 65,000 H-1B visas, with an additional 20,000 visas for individuals who have obtained a master's degree or higher from a US institution.
• Engineering graduates from US universities who miss out on the H-1B allocation have no straightforward path to stay.
• There is a cap of 7% of total H-1B visas for any one nation, which puts countries with large populations, such as China and India, at a disadvantage as many STEM workers come from these countries.
• The lottery system for transitioning from an H-1B visa to a permanent residency Green Card has long wait times for individuals from China and India due to country caps.
• If an H-1B visa holder loses their job, they have only 60 days to find a new position or they may not be able to remain in the country.
• Current H-1B visa holders need to leave the country to renew their visa, as the domestic renewal program was discontinued in 2004 due to security concerns.

Proposals to address these issues include authorizing the issuance of 10,000 'Chipmakers' Visas' per year with an expedited path to a Green Card. Under this proposal, 2,500 visas would be auctioned off to qualifying firms every quarter, with visa ownership immediately transferred to the sponsored worker. The 5-year visa would be renewable once, providing firms with certainty that they will have sufficient time to scale up their investments in the US and train domestic workers. Additionally, the fees generated from the visa auctions would be dedicated to training American workers and providing scholarships for students and workers in the semiconductor supply chain.

The US State Department has recently taken a step towards alleviating some of the problems with a pilot program that allows eligible H-1B holders to renew their visas in the US instead of having to leave the country to do so.

Without an overseas recruitment push, the US is projected to face a shortage of 67,000 employees by 2030, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).