Shock for Indian techies: Programmers no longer eligible for H-1B visas in US

The US has ruled that being a simple computer programmer would no longer qualify as a specialist profession, which is a must for the issue of a H-1B work visa, in a move that could have far reaching implications for thousands of Indians applying for such a visa.

The ruling reverses the US' more than decades and a half old guidelines, that were issued in the context of addressing the new millennium needs.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has ruled that an entry level computer programmer position would not generally qualify as a position in a "specialty occupation".

The clarification on what constitutes a "specialty occupation" superseding and rescinding its previous guidelines of December 22,2000 was issued by the USCIS through a new policy memorandum on March 31.

The move could have far reaching implications on thousands of Indians applying for H-1B work visas for the next fiscal beginning October 1, 2017, the process for which started yesterday.

Issued just one business day before the USCIS started accepting H-1B visa petitions, the policy memorandum titled 'Rescission of the December 22, 2000 Guidance memo on H1B computer related positions,' has sent shocked waves across the companies and immigration attorneys, as their application was based on the 2000 guidelines on what constitutes a specialty occupation.

"The fact that a person may be employed as a computer programmer and may use information technology skills and knowledge to help an enterprise achieve its goals in the course of his or her job is not sufficient to establish the position as a specialty occupation," the USCIS Policy Memorandum ruled.

"Thus, a petitioner may not rely solely on the (current version of the) Handbook (that describes specialty occupation) to meet its burden when seeking to sponsor a beneficiary for a computer programmer position.

Instead, a petitioner must provide other evidence to establish that the particular position is one in a specialty occupation," the memorandum said.

According to the USCIS, the December 22, 2000 memorandum entitled 'Guidance memo on H-1B computer related positions' is not an accurate articulation of current agency policy.

"USCIS is rescinding it to prevent inconsistencies in H-1B and H-1B1 adjudications between the three service centers that currently adjudicate H-1B petitions," it said.

The USCIS argued that the 2000 memorandum was based on 1998-1999 and 2000-01 editions of the Occupational Outlook Handbook, which is now obsolete.

The 2000 memorandum, it said, did not accurately portray essential information from the Handbook that recognised that some computer programmers qualify for these jobs with only "2-year degrees."

While the memorandum did mention beneficiaries with "2-year" degrees, it incorrectly described them as "strictly involving the entering or review of code for an employer whose business is not computer related."

The Handbook did not support such a statement, it said. As such, "it is improper to conclude based on this information that the USCIS would "generally consider the position of programmer to qualify as a specialty occupation," the memorandum told USCIS personnel involved in adjudication of H-1B applications and petitions.

The Bureau of Labour Statistics in its Occupational Outlook Handbook identifies 10 different kinds of computer and information technology (IT) occupation.

Topping the list is computer and information research scientists with a doctoral or professional degree, who normally invent and design new approaches to computing technology and find innovative uses for existing technology.

They study and solve complex problems in computing for business, medicine, science, and other fields. The H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows American firms to employ foreign workers in occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year.

In 2015 their median salary was USD 110,000. It is followed by Computer network architects (whose median salary in 2015 was USD 100,000), Computer programmer (USD 79,530), Computer support specialist (USD 51,000).

The median salary for Computer systems analysts was USD 85,500 followed by Database Administrators (USD 81,000), Information Security Analysts (USD 90,000), network and computer systems administrators (USD 77,000), Software developers (USD 100,000) and web developers (USD 65,000).


http://www.deccanchronicle.com/worl...-no-longer-eligible-for-h1-b-visas-in-us.html

I guess these programmers would be better off in other countries than US...Let us not send our Engineers to US for employment to be thrown out!!

Only about 9% of H1B visa applicants from india go under the label of programmers.

Others go as system analysts and other labels.

So it is a matter of re labelling and going.

Our IT companies know how to send our IT fellows abroad .

krish44 said:

Only about 9% of H1B visa applicants from india go under the label of programmers.

Others go as system analysts and other labels.

So it is a matter of re labelling and going.

Our IT companies know how to send our IT fellows abroad .

Click to expand...

hi sir,

exactly .....our IT companies are.....கில்லாடி கிச்ச முத்து ....once upon a time ...our infamous IT COMPANIES USED TO SEND

COOKS/GARDENERS AS COMPUTER ENGINEERS....now these companies are gone with wind....now these COMPUTER ENGINEERS

ARE RUNNING FINE INDIAN RESTAURANTS IN USA...i heard many of them...

All these rules are basically to 'show and tell ' to an angry public in USA that have seen their income and prosperity go down. The real issue is that school education through high school is in a sad state of affairs in USA compared to many countries. Colleges fare far better and at the upper end it is hard to beat many of the universities in USA.

Mechanization, automation, AI and relatively high cost of living has seen many jobs disappear either because they are eliminated forever or because many are moved to off shore where regulations are not strong (e.g., worker safety, environmental laws etc).

In the mean time a small population of Asians (which include Indians ) are significantly well off. Many have come to USA in the 1990s and are now owning mansions here.

Couple of years ago I met this Gurjarathi fellow who could hardly speak a line of English properly. Yet he opened up several drug stores in a number of locations and living in a mansion of a house which has elevators and a full auditorium inside. At the request of some local Indian organizations he offered to host a political fund raising event at his home. I was chatting with the fellow running for Mayor of the township and his mouth of was wide open where proverbial fly can go in and out after seeing the house. He could not understand how this fellow with seemingly minimal skills is able amass such an amount of wealth.

Trump administration has successfully made the immigration overall as the root issue of all that ails America. But what the administration knows is that without legal and illegal immigration, America would not have been able to maintain its prosperity. At one time, 70% of the technology startups were due to IIT graduates at the Silicon Valley area. Indians alone have created enormous number of jobs as well as pay huge amount of taxes that allows the poor and older whites to receive social security wages and medicare protection.

H1B visa stunt is just to appease the population. It is like building a stupid wall at the Mexican border. I saw a segment of a Mexican American comedian who was laughing that Mexicans will cross the wall using drones if the wall ever gets built Also most than 70% illegals came flying into USA and overstayed their visa.

In the meantime, the change in law is a blow to Infosys and other such companies. It may be a blessings in disguise and can make them look for other solutions within India.

In the meantime, the change in law is a blow to Infosys and other such companies. It may be a blessings in disguise and can make them look for other solutions within India.

Click to expand...

Yes. Atleast now Indian companies can concentrate at the logic-gate level in the chip and try to tap the opportunies there like the Netherlands. The Dutch command a lot of respect in that area. We may even grow to compete with Microsoft and Google if we do that.