The rejection rate of H-1B visas in the United States has soared. About a quarter of them were rejected in 2017

The rejection rate of H-1B visas in the United States soared. About a quarter of them were rejected in 2017. Data map: Trump. China Overseas Chinese Network, March 29. According to the United States' "World...

China Overseas Chinese Network, March 29. According to the U.S. "World Journal", according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data, a year ago, less than one out of every five applications was rejected; but between January and August last year, an average of more than one out of every four applications was rejected; lawyers predict that this severe situation may be just the beginning, and it will only become more and more difficult in the future.

Ms. Wu, who has worked for a listed company in Southern California for more than three years, applied for H-1B renewal in 2017. Her first application in 2014 went smoothly without any difficulties, and she thought there would be no problems with the renewal this time. Unexpectedly, she still received a rejection letter from the Immigration Bureau after waiting for more than half a year to complete the application. Without any psychological preparation, she had to make a job handover and leave her job within a few weeks.

Ms. Wu said that in the past three years, she has performed very well at work. Not only did she become a "minor official" in the department, she also received a salary increase, and the company also applied for a green card for her. Her American dream seemed to be gradually coming true, but she was shocked when the Immigration Bureau actually rejected her in a renewal case. "Not only did she lose her job and income, but the most troublesome thing was that after leaving her job, the company had to terminate the green card application, making all her hard work in the past few years in vain."

The lawyer said that appealing to the Immigration Bureau is time-consuming and laborious, and the chance of winning is very small. It is better to reapply for H-1B in April 2018.

In order to stay in the United States, Ms. Wu spent thousands of dollars to register and return to school after leaving her job to ensure that she could legally stay in the United States as a student. However, in April, she will face fierce competition with more than 200,000 people competing for the 85,000 H-1B lottery. Even if she is lucky enough to win the lottery, it is difficult to guarantee that the Immigration Bureau will no longer cause problems for her.

This year's H-1B work visa application date is approaching. Although the overall quota has not been reduced, after President Trump signed the "Buy American, Hire American" executive order, the number of H-1B Request for Evidence reached a peak last year, which was 40% and 65% more than in 2016 and 2015 respectively, greatly increasing the difficulty of obtaining H-1B.

Although the general quota for H-1B this year is still 65,000, Trump issued two executive orders and administrative memorandums in April and July last year, requiring the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to strengthen strict review of immigrant visas and benefits, which significantly affected the waiting time of applicants.

Immigration lawyer Huang Ziqian said that when Trump took office, many people thought that the target of the Immigration Service was only illegal immigrants. Now it seems that even professional immigrants, multinational company managers (L-1), investment immigrants, etc. are encountering difficulties.

He said that in the past, the Immigration Bureau's request for H-1B supplementary documents was not new. Immigration lawyers knew very well where there were problems and how to remedy them. "As long as you prepare carefully and submit the materials again, it is not a problem to pass the review."

But now Huang Ziqian and many immigration lawyers have seen a "strange trend", that is, they were not required to submit many materials when supplementing the documents, but later the Immigration Bureau did not mention it at all before. "We have no idea what the immigration officer is thinking, and sometimes we are rejected inexplicably."

He said that if a certain issue is not mentioned when supplementing the document, the applicant will not have the opportunity to explain, and then he will be rejected by the Immigration Bureau because of the issue. Such a procedure is very unfair to the applicant. "The worst thing is that the problem is now widespread."

Immigration Bureau Director Cissna (L. Francis Cissna said in a statement that requiring applicants to provide more documentation will ensure the accuracy of H-1B approval and "ensure that each applicant meets the agency's standards and individual priorities."

However, Cissna countered that the number of supplementary notices increased significantly last year, saying that it should be more accurate to look at the rate of issuing notices; data show that the rate in fiscal year 2017 was about 20%, which was similar to the previous two years; but the data also showed that the rate of issuing notices tripled in the first few months of fiscal year 2018, reaching 40%.

However, it is understood that the H-1B rejection rate in November 2017 was 17.6%, more than double the 7.7% in the same period in 2016. (Zhang Minyi Yan Jiaying)