CHICAGO, April 13, 2016 — VISANOW, which integrates the best of people and technology to simplify and expedite the immigration process, today issued the following statement on the announcement by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that it received 236,000 H-1B petitions for temporary high-skilled workers this year for only 85,000 available visas. This comes on the heels of the announcement by the government last week that it had reached the congressionally mandated cap within the first five business days of the fiscal year 2017 filing period. This should come as no surprise according to the recent VISANOW Immigration Trends 2016 survey, which finds that more than 40 percent of employers say sourcing foreign nationals is very/extremely important to their hiring strategy.
Dick Burke, president and chief executive officer of VISANOW, said: “Legal immigration is a vital tool for U.S. businesses and plays a major role in helping our country remain competitive in a global economy. However, this year’s 1 percent increase in petitions the USCIS received, compared to last year’s 35 percent year-over-year increase, isn’t an indication of waning demand, but rather reflective of what we heard from certain companies — that many of them are giving up hope on the program after years of being turned away.
“In light of this, our customers increasingly speak of the need for sensible reform of the H-1B visa program. Such reform could include raising the cap, prioritizing companies that are hiring directly and penalizing those companies that are found to abuse the program. Additionally, the program could focus on geographic areas of economic need or particular industries of national importance, such as clean energy, health care and cybersecurity.
“Fortunately, there are still potential options for employers whose H-1B petitions are not selected, including the TN visa, E-3 visa, H-1B1 visa and L-1 visa, among others. Employers should evaluate with their immigration services provider alternative solutions, which may be appropriate for certain employee cases.”
About VISANOW
Founded in Chicago in 1998, VISANOW is a global immigration services provider integrating the best of people and technology. The company offers a transparent and streamlined way to navigate the tedious and confusing visa application process. Its patented online platform provides fast response times, easy access to case information and comprehensive customer support — helping customers save time, money and stress. Since its inception, the company has prepared cases for tens of thousands of individual and business visa applications with a 95%+ VISANOW-affiliated attorney case approval rate.*
Website, technology platform and administrative services are provided by VISANOW.com, Inc., a Delaware corporation. Legal services are provided by VISANOW-affiliated attorneys. *Approval is not guaranteed in any given case; approval depends on the specific facts and legal circumstances of each case. This excludes B-2 visas.