US imposes fresh curbs on H-1B visa

Latest changes to the H-1B visa programme introduced amid a tough US presidential election campaign are expected to directly affect technology companies, foreign workers and employers who rely on these non-immigrant US visas.

The new rules narrow the definition of specialty occupation, employer, employee-employer relationship, reduce the visa’s duration to one year from the current three, and increase the compensation requirements for H-1B workers. The one-year rule is expected to increase complexity and scrutiny, and attract additional costs.

“This will likely have the biggest impact on employers that hire many technology workers and then contract them out long-term to their clients,” said Rebecca Bodony, senior business immigration attorney at Davies & Associates, a New York-based immigration law firm.