Two years following the signing of President Trump’s “Buy American, Hire American” executive order, U.S. businesses increasingly are feeling its impact. Companies traditionally have used the H-1B visa program to hire skilled foreign workers for three years. Now, however, this visa has become much more difficult to obtain for U.S. businesses. In 2017, the rejection rate for these visas was 13%. In 2019, the rejection rate now has risen to 32%. Likewise, the rejection rate for applications to extend the visas for an additional three years has increased from three percent to 18%.
One successful immigrant business owner has decided to quit seeking workers using the H-1B visa program. Previously, he recruited two people per year to work for his company under H-1B visas. Receiving several requests for evidence (RFE) in response to his applications has discouraged him from using the program at all.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) also has increasingly revoked H-1B visa applications often on the grounds of alleged fraud. For instance, when a healthcare staffing company tried to obtain H-1B visas on behalf of various clients, it took six months. By that time, the client already had moved on, unwilling to wait that long for foreign workers whose presence was not guaranteed. Once USCIS learned of the change, it accused the company of lying on its H-1B visa petitions and revoked them. Although there is no publicly available data on how often H-1B visas are revoked, it appears to some that revocations are becoming almost as universal as denials of these visas. The rising rate of revocation also discourages U.S. companies from seeking foreign workers using the H-1B visa.
Whatever your situation may be, you will need skilled legal assistance to work toward a resolution of your immigration matter. The Texas immigration attorneys of Peek Law Group know how to help you navigate through the maze of immigration forms, regulations, and policies, and get the relief that you need. Take the first step today and secure the future of your family in the U.S. Contact our office today at and set up an evaluation with one of our highly skilled Texas immigration lawyers.