What we know about US H-1B visas Trump supporters are clashing over

An immigration row has erupted between Donald Trump’s supporters over a long-standing US visa programme.

The feud is about H-1B visas, which permit US-based corporations to usher in expert staff from overseas into sure industries.

Some immigration hardliners say the scheme undercuts American staff – however proponents say the visas permit the US to draw the perfect experience from all over the world.

The president-elect has weighed in, saying he helps the programme – regardless of being important of it prior to now – and tech billionaire Elon Musk has additionally defended it, saying it attracts the “high ~0.1% of engineering expertise”.

This is what the information inform us about who will get into the US on these visas.

The H-1B visas for expert staff have been launched in 1990. They’re sometimes granted for 3 years, however could be prolonged for as much as six years.

Since 2004, the variety of new H-1B visas issued has been capped at 85,000 per 12 months – 20,000 of that are reserved for international college students with grasp’s levels or increased from US universities.

Nevertheless, that cap doesn’t apply to some establishments corresponding to universities, suppose tanks and different non-profit analysis teams, so extra are sometimes issued.

Folks can solely apply for an H-1B visa if they’ve a job lined up with a US-based sponsor firm or establishment.

The US authorities additionally approves extensions for these already working within the nation.

Simply over 386,000 H-1B purposes have been accepted within the 2023 fiscal 12 months (October 2022-September 2023), the most recent 12 months we’ve full knowledge for, in line with US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) figures.

That features virtually 119,000 new H-1B visas and about 267,000 extensions to current visas.

The 2023 whole is down from greater than 474,000 in 2022.

There have been efforts to limit the H-1B additional programme prior to now.

In 2017, then-president Trump signed an executive order that elevated scrutiny of H-1B visa purposes. The order sought to boost fraud detection inside the scheme.

Rejection charges hit an all-time high under the first Trump administration, reaching 24% within the 2018 fiscal 12 months, in contrast with rejection charges of between 5-8% beneath the Obama administration and between 2-4% beneath President Biden.

Nevertheless, the full variety of accepted candidates beneath the Biden administration has been much like that beneath Trump’s first.

Within the three years that adopted President Trump’s government order (2018-2020), about 1.1 million purposes have been accepted, with about 343,000 of these being first-time candidates.

Within the first three years of the Biden administration (2021-2023), about 1.2 million purposes have been accepted, with virtually 375,000 being new candidates.

Demand typically exceeds the quantity of visas granted – in most years there are hundreds extra purposes filed than accepted.

In instances through which extra purposes are obtained than visas can be found, US Citizenship and Immigration Companies (USCIS) successfully runs the H-1B programme as a lottery – which detractors consider highlights a basic flaw within the system.

“In the end, if you are going to have a talented employee programme for ‘expert’ staff, you do not award these visas through a lottery,” mentioned Eric Ruark, the director of analysis at NumbersUSA, an organisation that advocates for tighter immigration controls.

“Clearly, that is not how you discover the perfect and the brightest.”

We do not have a full report on the 2024 numbers but, however preliminary figures counsel purposes have elevated sharply.

The variety of eligible registrations published by the USCIS confirmed 758,994 purposes within the 2024 fiscal 12 months, in contrast with 474,421 in 2023.

With Trump headed again to the White Home in January, Mr Ruark mentioned he believes that the decision of the H-1B debate will in the end be among the many components that defines his presidency.

“Is that second time period going to be pro-American employee, or revert to the previous institution Republican place that immigration is designed to assist employers – on the expense of American staff?” he mentioned.

“That is going to be an enormous battle within the second time period.”

The overwhelming majority of accepted candidates work in science, expertise, engineering, and arithmetic.

Most are in computer-related occupations – 65% within the 2023 fiscal 12 months.

This was adopted by structure, engineering and surveying – about 10% of individuals accepted in 2023 labored in these sectors.

By way of corporations, Amazon was the top employer of individuals on H-1B visas in 2024, hiring greater than 13,000 workers through the scheme.

Different acquainted names like Google, Meta, and Apple function excessive on the employer listing – rating 4th, sixth and eighth respectively.

Tesla, one of many corporations owned by Elon Musk – who has backed the programme – ranked twenty second, using greater than 1,700 folks on an H-1B visa.

California and Texas have been the states with the most individuals engaged on an H-1B visa in 2024.

The median yearly revenue of individuals working within the US on an H-1B visa in 2023 was $118,000 (£94,046).

The median yearly income for people in laptop and mathematical occupations throughout the US is about $113,000 – barely lower than these in related sectors through the H-1B programme.

The median household income within the US is about $60,000 per 12 months.

Whereas opponents of the H-1B system typically make the argument that H-1B holders undercut the salaries of American staff, some immigration legal professionals and consultants push again on that notion.

The overwhelming majority of H-1B holders earn greater than the “prevailing wage” for his or her occupation – a Division of Labor-determined determine that calculates the typical wage paid to equally employed staff in a selected a part of the nation.

Shev Dalal-Dheini, senior director of presidency relations on the American Immigration Legal professionals Affiliation, instructed the BBC that, whereas prevailing wages “are usually not a full labour market take a look at”, they’re indicative of the truth that H-1B visa holders aren’t negatively affecting the remainder of the workforce.

“To illustrate you are a software program engineer in Washington DC. You have a look at the going price for software program engineers in DC, and it’s important to certify that you just’re paying at the very least that quantity,” mentioned Ms Dalal-Dheini, who additionally labored on H-1B points whereas as an official at USCIS.

“You are not likely undercutting wages that method.”

Moreover, Ms Dalal-Dheini mentioned that US corporations should additionally pay important charges to file H-1B petitions, typically along with lawyer charges.

“Corporations that find yourself sponsoring H-1B [recipients] are prices of as much as $5,000 to $10,000 along with what you would need to pay an American employee,” she mentioned.

“The underside line is that if they might discover an American employee that was certified, most corporations would in all probability select to rent that American employee, as a result of it might be a price financial savings.”

The overwhelming majority of these accepted come from India.

The latest data showed round 72% of visas have been issued to Indian nationals, adopted by 12% to Chinese language residents.

About 1% got here from the Philippines, Canada and South Korea respectively.

About 70% of those that enter the US on H-1B visas are males, with the typical age of these accepted being round 33.

Further reporting by Becky Dale.