Trump administration to tighten H-1B visa rules; huge increase in salary cap

 

 

P P Cherian

Washington: The Trump administration is preparing to revise the H-1B visa rules for hiring foreign professionals in the United States. The move is to sharply raise the minimum salary cap for foreign workers in a way that makes it more burdensome for companies to hire foreign workers.

According to the new proposal, an entry-level software engineer in San Francisco must make at least $162,000 (about Rs. 1.35 crore) an annual salary to get an H-1B visa. This is 30% higher than the current one.

The salary cap will increase to $132,000 in New York and $113,000 in Dallas.

The Trump administration has made it clear that the goal is to prevent Americans from losing jobs by hiring foreigners for low wages.

Studies suggest that if this reform is implemented, major American companies will have an additional liability of $ 18 billion in the first year alone. This could increase to $ 43 billion in three years. In addition to the IT sector, this will also adversely affect sectors such as medicine, finance, and research.

This decision will affect foreign students graduating from American universities the most. Companies may be reluctant to hire beginners because of the high salaries they have to pay. Experts point out that this will eliminate the career path previously used by Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

Supporters argue that this change will help avoid exploitation in the labor market and bring only highly skilled workers to the country.