International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Improving Access to Labour market Information for migrants and employers
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• H-2R for returning H2B workers
• H-3 visas for trainees
In the H-category, the largest number of visas is issued under the H-1B visa for
speciality occupations that require “theoretical and practical application of a
body of highly specialized knowledge” (Ruiz et al., 2012). With the exception of
fashion models, all H-1B visa recipients are required to have at least a BA degree
or equivalent experience (Ruiz et al.,2012). The H-1B programme was introduced
in the Immigration Act of 1990 with the intent to explicitly raise the importance
of US economic needs for labour, especially high-skilled workers, in the nation’s
immigration policy. The 1990 law imposed an annual cap of 65,000 on H-1B visas.
In response to pressure from large IT corporations, the cap was raised to 195,000
during the period 2001–2003, and then lowered to 65,000 in 2004. From 2006
onwards, 20,000 additional visas are provided for workers with advanced degrees
from US Universities. Further, the 2000 American Competitiveness Act in the
Twenty First Century allowed a number of employers, classified as “institution(s)
of higher education or related non-profit entity, non-profit research or government
research entity”, to sponsor foreign-born persons for H-1B visas outside the numerical
cap. Approximately 10 per cent of all H-1B visas are issued to applications submitted
by employers exempted from caps (Ruiz et al., 2012). Further, O and P visas have
been created for persons with extraordinary abilities.
In the 22 years of its existence, the demand for H-1B has always surpassed its quota.
From 2001 to 2009, a period marked by two recessions, the average number of annual
requests filed by US employers was 325,522, much above the cap. In 2001, when the
cap was temporarily raised to 195,000, 56 per cent of the applicants received the
visa; in 2008, when demand peaked only 21 per cent of the applicants acquired the
visa (Ruiz et al., 2012). The demand for H-1B remained high during the recession
and its aftermaths, even as unemployment in the United States remained above the 8
per cent mark. In June 2012, the USCIS announced that there will be no more new
H-1B visas for the coming 15 months because all the visas for 2013 were depleted by
the second week of June 2012 (Kaiser, 2012).
Besides the H category visas, a second category, the L-1 visas, has been applied
extensively to allow foreign workers in the United States. The L-1 visas are issued
for intra-company transfers and are predominantly used by large corporations. Since
2000, each year, approximately 100,000 to 160,000 visas have been issued to workers
in multinational corporations as intra-company transfers and their family members,
who are also allowed to work in the United States (USDHS, 2012). In 1980, the
number of admissions for inter-company transfers (including spouse/children) was
only 65,000. 157 This is considered the most employer friendly and least cumbersome
visa category under the US labour migration system.
157 Admissions numbers are often greater than the actual number of visas issued because they do not
adjust for multiple entries.