New Data Show H-1B Denial Rates Reaching Highest Levels
When U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) introduced its H-1B Employer Data Hub skeptics assumed the agency hoped to generate negative attention toward companies and H-1B visa holders. However, it turns out analyzing the data in the hub reveals something USCIS might not have anticipated – evidence the agency is denying H-1B petitions at such a high level compared to previous years that it is clear to attorneys USCIS has acted without proper legal authority in restricting H-1B visas.
“Denial rates for H-1B petitions have increased significantly, rising from 6% in FY 2015 to 32% in the first quarter of FY 2019 for new H-1B petitions for initial employment,” according to a National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) analysis of USCIS data in the H-1B Employer Data Hub. “Between FY 2015 and FY 2018 the denial rate for new H-1B petitions quadrupled from 6% to 24%. To put this in perspective, between FY 2010 and FY 2015, the denial rate for initial H-1B petitions never exceeded 8%, while today the rate is 3 or 4 times higher.”
Table 1: Denial Rate of Initial H-1B Petitions
FISCAL YEAR DENIAL RATE
FY 2019* 32%
FY 2018 24%
FY 2017 13%
FY 2016 10%
FY 2015 6%
FY 2014 8%
FY 2013 7%
FY 2012 5%
FY 2011 7%
FY 2010 8%
FY 2009 15%
Source: USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub, National Foundation for American Policy. *Through first quarter of FY 2019.
Attorneys and employers believe denials have increased because USCIS and its adjudicators have raised the standard of proof for approving an H-1B petition without any new law or regulation that would permit the agency to do so legally, notes the NFAP analysis. In April 2017, Donald Trump issued the “Buy American and Hire American” executive order, which attorney Vic Goel, managing partner of Goel & Anderson, said in an interview has been used to “upend years of established practice, including rescinding long-standing policies on what occupations qualify for H-1B visas.”
The statistics on H-1B denials, particularly the spike upwards in denials since 2017, raise both legal and policy questions. “One thing that is clear to me is that the data backs up what employers have been saying for the last two years: USCIS has raised the legal standard they use to decide whether enough evidence has been presented with petitions to approve them, without any legal authority to do so and without any notice to the public,” said William Stock, a founding member of Klasko Immigration Law Partners, LLP, who reviewed the data at my request. “The rise in the denial rate for continuing employment, where existing H-1B workers whose petitions have been approved before, show that adjudicators are applying a new standard to people whose petitions have already been approved before.”
Buy American, Hire American? Then it's time to apply, Americans!
Lots of IT job postings at contracting firms all across America, but hardly any applicants. When companies can't find enough H-1Bs, they will be forced to hire some US citizens. That can be you. DUers should apply for these jobs today.
Get it DUers!
= new reply since forum marked as read
Some of you have correctly concluded that I have ulterior motives in my H-1b posts.
I'd like to reject the notion that foreigners are coming here to take jobs away from Americans. Any DUer who believes this probably voted for Trump anyway. This is how our party lost some previously blue states. Many contract job postings in small cities and rural states with high unemployment stay open for a year or more. Jobs exist.
I'd like us to promote the narrative that wealthy corporations are exploiting workers and don't value their people. They've been firing long-time employees in favor of disposable short term contractors. This is much more liberal than the above notion.
And for my biggest motive:
I'd like to see more diversity in these jobs. It should never be just 1 or 2 token US citizens working with 200 non-US citizens. Working along side people of different backgrounds and citizenships can encourage us to get to know each other. We might learn some things about our fellow workers to show that we might be more alike than we are different. And the biggest and most shocking thing American workers will find out about their h-1b coworkers, is that many of them are not h-1bs at all, but might be born and raised US citizens like me, or hold a green card, or became a naturalized US citizen, or hold citizenship of another western country like Canada or the UK, not just India or Nigeria. I've worked with workers from Sweden, Italy, Taiwan, Korea, Israel, Russia, and other industrialized nations. Only about half of H-1Bs are from India. And H-1Bs also include many public school teachers and healthcare professionals in many rural or inner-city areas that have trouble recruiting. For many of these folks, they get sponsorship for a green card and then citizenship so they can live the American dream just like anyone else.
And the very first step in changing any of this, is for American DUers to apply for these jobs. The natural liberal curiosity should be there to see what it's like to interview or find out what salary they would offer at least. I guarantee it would be an eye-opening experience to actually join a contracting services firm and work in the field. It could be a great way for someone who is looking for their first job or changed fields to get some work experience.
Jobs exist. Get it DUers!
