The United States government said on Monday it would resume fast processing of H-1B visas requested by institutions of higher education and nonprofit and governmental research organisations, while leaving in place a longer approval time for companies that use the visas.
President Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to crack down on immigrants, whom he said were taking jobs from US citizen and signed an executive order in April calling for a review of the H-1B programme. The visa allows foreigners with certain skills to work temporarily in the US.
US companies often use the visas to hire graduate-level workers in several specialised fields, including information technology, medicine, engineering and mathematics. The visas are heavily used in the tech sector.
United States resumes fast processing of some H-1B visa categories https://t.co/N9gcDmRu11 pic.twitter.com/4v3dNAUOOD
— DNA (@dna) July 25, 2017
On April 3, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) suspended “premium processing” of the visas for up to six months. Under the expedited procedure, applicants can be eligible for visa approvals within 15 days, instead of a regular review period that can last several months.
The US currently caps H-1B visas at 65,000 a year, with an additional 20,000 allowed for those who have earned advanced college degrees in the US.
The overall suspension remains in place but USCIS said on Monday in a statement premium processing would resume for some applications from educational and research-oriented organisations exempt from the cap.
As Trump targets H-1B visas, it's notable he's allowing more H-2B visas — which Trump businesses like Mar-a-Lago use to hire foreign workers https://t.co/2k8Qm4rBct
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) July 17, 2017
The agency resumed premium processing for physicians working under a specific waiver programme on June 26.
USCIS has said suspending premium processing was necessary to reduce a backlog of long-pending visa petitions and thus reduce overall H-1B processing times.
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