Trump Immigration Rule Could Make H-1B Visa Holders Too Costly To Hire

Of note. May make Canada relatively more attractive:

The Trump administration will publish a new immigration rule expected to price many H-1B visa holders and employment-based immigrants out of the U.S. labor market. The White House included the plan in the proclamation announcing a $100,000 fee on many H-1B visa holders. The new Department of Labor rule will likely be similar to the two attempts in Donald Trump’s first term to raise the salaries of high-skilled foreign nationals beyond what most employers can afford to pay. A significant body of research indicates that H-1B visa holders are paid the same or higher salaries than U.S. workers with comparable levels of education and experience.

H-1B temporary visas are often the only way for high-skilled foreign nationals to work in the United States long term. When companies recruit at U.S. universities, they find that international students account for 73% of full-time graduate students in electrical and computer engineering. The H-1B annual limit is 65,000, with an exemption of 20,000 for individuals with master’s degrees or higher from a U.S. university, or about 0.05% of the U.S. labor force. In addition to government fees that can exceed $6,000, employers must pay the higher of the actual or prevailing wage paid to U.S. professionals with similar experience and qualifications. 

An Immigration Directive To Make H-1B Visa Holders Too Expensive To Employ

Trump administration officials understood that the $100,000 fee to hire new H-1B visa holders contained in the Sept. 19 presidential proclamation would be prohibitive for employers, effectively blocking many high-skilled foreign nationals from ever working in the United States. They also knew it could not stop all H-1B professionals because the relevant section of U.S. law only allowed the proclamation to prevent the “entry” of H-1B professionals…

Source: Trump Immigration Rule Could Make H-1B Visa Holders Too Costly To Hire