Policy Proposal to reform the current H-1B Program for true benefit of American Economy
What is the current Program : The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa in the US, under the INA, section 101(a)(15)(H), that allows U.S. employers to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. It is the largest visa category in the United States in terms of guest worker numbers. A specialty occupation requires the application of specialized knowledge and a bachelor’s degree or the equivalent of work experience. The duration of stay is three years, extendable to six years, after which the visa holder can reapply. Laws limit the number of H-1B visas that are issued each year. There exist congressionally mandated caps limiting the number of H-1B visas that can be issued each fiscal year, which is 65,000 visas, and an additional 20,000 set aside for those graduating with master’s degrees or higher from a U.S. college or university. An employer must sponsor individuals for the visa.
Proposal to transform this program to truly benefit the American economy:
- Grant Visa’s to Foreign nationals by giving Priority and Preference in this H-1B to Students who have gone to School inside America, pursuing their education (atleast one of K-12, Bachelors, Masters,Doctorate etc) inside United States.
- Grant Visa’s to individuals and limit their specialty occupation only in areas, where their Bachelors Degree and Masters Degree are relevant. E.g. Mechanical Engineering Degree candidate to pursue only occupation in that field, and not in other fields, that have nothing to do with Mechanical Engineering.
- Strictly identify and eliminate the Body shopping abuse and visa pursuit, that is rampant amongst Professional services firms and consulting firms
- Eliminate all the loopholes through which low skilled, low paid individuals are sponsored visas and are brought in to replace native born American Citizens, Legal Permanent Residents, and profiteering by IT Services companies, negatively affecting the local economy and siphoning profits to outside of America.
- Reject Foreign Nationals who have anti-American values (e.g. Supporting designated terrorist organizations like Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthi’s etc)
*Eliminate all loopholes