The H-1B visa has for years been a vital bridge connecting global professionals with opportunities in the US. It has symbolized not only a permit to work in the US, but also a pathway to the American dream.
Yet the employment visa has been plagued by high demand, especially from major US companies seeking to bring in workers from abroad. Each year, only 85,000 H-1B spots are available. For the past several years, the number of applicants far exceeded the annual quota, necessitating the use of a lottery system, whereby employers enter candidates into a blind draw. Only those selected would have the opportunity to submit their applications for adjudication.
US President Donald Trump’s administration has noted that a high percentage of H-1B lottery entries are for candidates with no academic ties to or life experience in the US.
The overcrowding by candidates from abroad lowers the chance of international students studying and interning in the US to be selected in the lottery. Moreover, the low chance of being selected cools interests of would-be employers to invest training and resources into candidates who are in the US.
Change is coming, and for the better.
Following an executive order signed by Trump, an employer filing for an out-of-country H-1B applicant would be levied an additional fee of US$100,000 per application. Applicants currently in the US — including first-time applicants and those renewing, extending or transferring their H-1B status — are exempt from the new fee. That means employers filing for international students under optional practical training (OPT) or science, technology, engineering and mathematics OPT internship programs would not face the massive fee.
The measure primarily targets US consulting and software development companies known for flooding the annual lottery with candidates mostly from India and China. By dramatically reducing out-of-country applications, employers and students would have much better odds of being selected.
The executive order falls in line with Trump’s “America first” policy by prioritizing would-be H-1B employees who already have academic ties to and life experience in the US.
The reform is not a restriction, but a refinement. It represents a shift from quantity to quality — a system designed to favor professionals with an affinity toward the US. The US is not closing its doors to foreign professionals looking to advance their careers in the country; it is merely changing the system to benefit those who have already demonstrated a willingness to integrate into and benefit the country.
Besides helping those already in the US, the executive order also provides employers certainty to the likelihood of retaining talent beyond the one-to-three year OPT internship period. That could lead to more employers entering in-country applicants into the annual H-1B lottery.
The higher the employer’s willingness, the more benefits there would be for job-seeking international students, many of whom are from Taiwan.
Indeed, employers at several job fairs were excited by the possibility of seeking and retaining international student talent already familiar with US culture. This renewed optimism for the H-1B program could benefit more students looking to advance their careers in the country.
For companies and jobseekers, the executive order would make the H-1B visa more viable than before. It is worth noting that H-1B is certainly not the only available visa employment option.
Taiwanese companies in the US have the E-2 employee visa option when hiring Taiwanese. There is no annual cap on the number of visas available, and the E-2 visa can be renewed in five-year increments indefinitely. Furthermore, the E-2 could lead to all available employment-based green card options from EB-1 to EB-5.
Other viable alternatives to the H-1B are the L-1 Intracompany Transferee and the O-1 Extraordinary Ability visas. In addition, employment-based green cards options such as the EB-1 Extraordinary Ability, the EB-2 National Interest Waiver and the EB-5 investment immigration options are available to those who qualify.
Taiwanese green card applicants enjoy an additional advantage under the US per-country quota system. Unlike applicants from India and China who face years-long backlogs due to overwhelming demand, Taiwanese often do not.
The H-1B reform will benefit international students and employers. For Taiwanese international students, it would improve opportunities to further their careers in the US using the H-1B and other employment visa options. Changes for the better indeed.
Danny Chen is principal attorney at the Green Maple Law Group.
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