H-1B applicants will face a difficult situation in the year ahead as political opposition to visas intensifies due to a number of U.S. government actions.
On Monday, the US Embassy in India posted on X that it has begun online presence screening for all H-1B and H-4 visa applicants starting December 15 to curb “abuse of the H-1B program.”
The U.S. Department of Labor last week proposed the Paycheck Protection Act, which experts say could deter companies from sponsoring H-1Bs for their employees.
This would “significantly increase the prevailing wage for all H-1B holders,” Manish Daftari, a partner at immigration consultancy Vialto Partners, told CNBC. He added that if the rule goes into effect, “companies will most likely reduce the number of H-1B sponsorships.”
Additionally, the Department of Homeland Security’s proposal for weighted selection rules that would prioritize the highest-paid workers in the H-1B lottery is reportedly in the final stages of consideration.
“These rules could leave recent graduates and early-career professionals with little access to H-1Bs, even if they work in emerging or critical fields,” warned Cecilia Osterlein, senior immigration policy analyst at the Niskanen Center.
Any changes to the H-1B rules would likely disproportionately hurt Indians, as they dominate the program and have made up more than 70% of recipients in recent years.
Amazon, Meta, microsoft, Tata Consultancy Servicesand google According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data, these are the top five employers that sponsor H-1B visas.
“If one or both rules go into effect, there could be job losses, but the biggest impact would be to discourage companies from sponsoring H-1Bs for their employees,” Daftari said.
H-1B confusion
Many H-1B applicants are already facing significant delays as U.S. consulates in India reschedule visa appointments to meet social screening requirements.
Reservation changes made over the past two weeks, often without notice, have “caused significant disruption to people’s ability to return to the United States,” Daftari said.
He said most plans for December and January have been moved to March and April, and some have been postponed until August.
The U.S. Department of State conducts social media screening of all H-1B and H-4 applicants worldwide as part of its standard visa screening process.
While the purpose of social media screening is to identify security threats and inconsistencies in applicant information, such as different job titles on LinkedIn, experts question the need for additional scrutiny of all applicants.
Applying social media screening to all cases, including renewal applicants, is an “inefficient and likely ineffective policy” that could result in “delays for American employers and consumers,” Osterlein said.
political atmosphere
Visa applicants will face further challenges as further policy changes come into effect next year.
“Most of these policies seem to be aimed at appeasing domestic political constituencies,” said Amitendu Palit, a senior fellow at the South Asia Institute. He noted that some of these rules may eventually be worked around because “America’s need for technology skills is non-negotiable.”
U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance said Sunday that the government has been working to “restrict H-1B visas” because it believes it is wrong for companies to “circumvent American labor just to seek cheaper options in the Third World.”
Vance was likely referring to President Donald Trump’s move to raise the fee for H-1B visas to $100,000 for new applicants.
While these restrictions have slowed hiring and shrunk talent pools, they have also had the desired effect as companies look for ways to upskill existing employees and build new talent pipelines to U.S. universities and large companies.
However, the decision to impose high fees on H-1B visas also drew backlash from industry and policymakers.
In October, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for imposing a $100,000 fee on H-1B worker visas.
Earlier this month, the New York Times reported that attorneys general from 20 states, including California and New York, had sued the Trump administration for increasing H-1B visa fees.
“The current administration is using legitimate concerns about H-1Bs to justify a broad approach to restricting access to H-1Bs,” Osterlein said.
