Work visas in the United States

H-1B visas

Main article: Visa H-1B

H2B visa

As of June 2017, the programmer can work in the United States and on a non-immigrant visa H2-B. It is issued for one year, can be extended to three years. Its inconvenience lies in the fact that during registration a certificate is required confirming that employees from the United States do not apply for the desired position. Obtaining such a certificate is a laborious process.

STEM visas

In September 2012, Lamar Smith, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas and a leading legislator on immigration, had to approve a bill introducing special STEM visas for green card lottery participants. Visas to the United States for specialists who have degrees in the so-called "STEM fields" (Science, Technology, Engineering, Matematics). Under the new law, called STEM Jobs Act, the first 55,000 visas participating in the diversification lottery will be purposefully issued to participants with a technical background.

A STEM visa applicant must have a PhD or Master of Engineering degree awarded by an American university. Distance education received via the Internet is allowed, but upon receipt, the participant must be physically present in the United States.

Some degree holders will not be considered. Only specialists who have earned doctor's or master's degrees at universities officially accredited for issuing degrees and are actively engaged in research activities are allowed to participate in the STEM visa drawing. This is done in order not to allow "diploma factories" to profit from the program.

Priority when issuing visas is given to specialists who have doctoral degrees. The remaining unused visas will be distributed to participants with master's degrees.

In September 2012, it was assumed that employers should apply for a visa on behalf of candidates. A U.S. employer who wants to hire a foreign national and obtain a green card for them must go through a labor certification process to prove that there are no qualified U.S. citizen candidates for the job in question. An invited employee who has received a visa will have to work for at least 5 years for this employer or in the related technical field^[1].

A list of employers inviting tech professionals to the U.S. on a STEM visa will be published openly on the website of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The department will also maintain a list of foreigners who have received STEM visas, listing their professions.

To pass, the STEM visa bill had to be approved by both parties - Republican and Democratic. In the Democratic part of Congress, there were fears that the new law could conflict with other norms of immigration law - in particular, with the DREAM Act of 2001, which currently issues residence permits to foreigners receiving degrees from US colleges.

The Republican Party pushing the legislation, in turn, has gained extensive support from the technology and science sectors. Leaders at 165 American universities, including Stanford and MIT, signed an open letter supporting the STEM bill.

Proponents of STEM legislation argue that scientifically trained technicians are in demand worldwide, and the United States is fighting for them. STEM Jobs Act will be another option that the United States offers in order to attract qualified personnel to its technology industry - along with the H-1B visa program, which has 20,000 temporary work visas for immigrants who have received scientific degrees from US universities as of September 2012.

L-1 visa

The United States L1 visa is a work visa for foreign tourists that allows companies operating both in the United States and abroad to transfer certain classes of employees to work in the United States for up to 7 years. An employee had to work in a branch or office of an American company outside the United States for at least one year for the previous three years.

Companies operating in the U.S. can apply to the local branch of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Administration (BCIS) for an L1 work visa to transfer the worker to the U.S. from an overseas office. Employees in this category will initially be provided with a L-1 work visa for up to three years.

Workers who can obtain a L1 work visa:

Managers/Managers

The legal definition of management and executive roles for this purpose is very strict, and a detailed description of the duties related to the performance of work duties at this workplace is required. In particular, the manager or manager must monitor and be responsible for the actions of the professional staff and/or for the key function, department or division of the entrepreneur. Such personnel receive a L1A visa, initially for a three-year period with the right to extend for up to 7 years.

Specialized-educated workers

This category includes employees who are familiar with the company's products and services, research, systems, special technologies, management and production. Employees from this section can obtain a work visa L1B initially for a three-year period with the right to extend the visa for up to 5 years.

At the end of the maximum permissible period, according to the status of the L-1 visa, the employee will have to work at the branch of the firm outside the United States of America at least one year before a new application for the status of L or H is made.

Chronicle

2020: Suspension of the issuance of work visas

On June 22, 2020, US President Donald Trump suspended the issuance of work visas for which hundreds of thousands of IT specialists work in the country. The decree of the American leader applies to visas H-1B, H-2B, H-4, L-1 and some J-1 visas - they will not be issued until December 31, 2020 (extension of deadlines is possible). This does not apply to those who are already in the United States.

Temporary workers are often accompanied by their spouses and children, many of whom also compete with American workers. Under normal circumstances, properly organized temporary employment programs can benefit the economy. But in the extraordinary circumstances of the economic downturn caused by the outbreak of the coronavirus COVID-19, some non-immigrant visa programs that allow such employment pose an unusual threat to the employment of American workers, the White House said in a statement.

Trump stopped issuing visas for which hundreds of thousands of IT specialists work

Several tech companies have protested that Trump executive order. So, Amazon said that the ban on entry into the country and assistance in restoring the US economy for highly qualified specialists jeopardizes the country's global competitiveness.

Google noted that immigrants not only contributed to technological breakthroughs and the creation of new businesses and jobs, but also enriched the lives of Americans. America needs talents, since it needs to restore the economy, reports The Verge, citing a representative of the corporation.

The US authorities, having suspended the issuance of work visas, intend to free up jobs for their citizens. Americans will be spared from competition with foreigners amid the economic crisis due to the pandemic. The White House noted that by the end of 2020, Americans will have a choice of 525 thousand vacancies.^[2]

2017: Reduced foreign recruitment in Silicon Valley

In August 2017, it became known that Silicon Valley companies began to recruit foreigners much less due to the immigration policy of US President Donald Trump.

As the Financial Times writes with reference to the hiring service Hired (specializes in IT specialties; collects data from more than 10 thousand companies), in the second quarter of 2017, the number of offers to undergo interviews in Silicon Valley companies for foreign specialists decreased by 37% compared to the same period in 2016. In the first quarter, the decline was measured at 46%.

Silicon Valley cuts foreign recruitment over Trump immigration policy

In turn, non-American applicants began to respond 4% less to requests from US technology companies.

CEO Mehul Patel believes that employers are in "limbo," fearing that Donald Trump will reduce the number of immigrants who may move to the United States. This exacerbates the already acute personnel shortage in the IT industry.

Such uncertainty leads to some helplessness, the expert notes.

In early August 2017, Trump introduced the RAISE bill, which changes the principles of the US immigration system - it becomes qualified when clear preference for immigration is given to educated, highly qualified people who speak good English. The bill would boost wages for American workers, reducing the influx of unskilled migrants. 

Experienced professionals are sought by both IT giants and start-ups, whose activities are funded by venture capitalists, Patel said. Companies are increasingly selecting several candidates for one position, assuming in advance that some of them will go to competitors.^[3]

See also

United States of America (USA)

Notes