H-1B visa: Trump govt proposes scrapping of computerised lottery system

NEW DELHI: The US administration’s proposal to scrap the computerised lottery system to grant H-1B work visas to foreign technology professionals and replace it with a wage-level based selection process could hamper movement of talent by technology and IT companies, according to analysts.

On Thursday, the US department of homeland security (DHS) said that modifying the H-1B cap selection process by replacing the random method with a wage-level-based one "is a better way to allocate H-1B visas when demand exceeds supply."

“If finalised as proposed, this new selection process would incentivise employers to offer higher wages or petition for positions requiring higher skills and higher-skilled workers instead of using the programme to fill relatively lower-paid vacancies,” DHS said.

Analysts said the rule could affect deployment and movement of talent by technology services companies.

“This could reduce the number of positions being sought to be filled, especially lower-level positions that may not be approved. This would hurt both service providers and their American clients, because they’re often simply unable to find competent local talent interested or available for those positions,” said Prasanto K Roy, public policy consultant.

This is also one more attempt by the US government to make these jobs more interesting for Americans.

They are still assuming that H-1B visas provide cheap Asian labour at wages not attractive to Americans, ignoring the talent gap due to which employers don’t easily find Americans for these positions, both low/mid-level and high-level jobs, added Roy.

The government of India will continue to monitor developments in this regard, a foreign ministry spokesperson said.

Earlier this month, the US had announced some changes to rules governing the H-1B including the need for companies and agencies hiring workers on H-1B visas to prove to the immigration agencies that such employees are not available from the domestic pool of US workers.

Every year, the US administration issues 85,000 H-1B work permits of which 65,000 are for people with specialty occupations, while the rest 20,000 are reserved for those foreign workers who have earned a masters or higher university degree in the US. Every year, Indians and Indian companies corner a large number of the H-1B work permits issued. According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the department has received about 250,000 H-1B work visa applications with Indians accounting for 184,000 or 67 % of the total H-1B work visas.