Question: In its recent announcement US reaches H-1B visa Cap for which year?
(a) 2018
(b) 2019
(c) 2020
(d) 2021
Answer: (c)
Related facts:
- The United States on 5th April, 2019, announced it had received enough petitions for H-1B visas for the congressionally mandated annual cap of 65,000 for 2020.
- Indians have historically accounted for more than 70% of the total of 85,000 H-1B visas the US grants every year against applications by American employers for specialty occupations.
- Some of them were those employed by Indian companies with US operations such as TCS and Infosys, but most were hired by American companies such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft.
- President Donald Trump’s “Buy American, Hire American” policy, rules have been introduced and changed to make it harder to qualify, costlier and less welcoming.
- The new rule favoring foreigners with US degrees, which was announced in January, is expected to boost their numbers by an estimated 16%, or 5,340 workers.
- US employers seeking to employ foreign workers with a US master’s or higher degree will have a greater chance of selection in the H-1B lottery in years of excess demand for new H-1B visas.
- Other changes include increased scrutiny of applications as a result the number of requests for more information has gone up, increasing the paperwork and attorney fees.
- It is less attractive for foreigners hoping to stay on, the administration has decided to end work authorization, for instances, for spouses of H-1B visa-holders cleared for Green Card (permanent residency).