What we know about US H-1B visas Trump supporters are clashing over

An immigration debate has erupted among supporters of Donald Trump over the long-term visa program.

The dispute is over H-1B visas, which allow US companies to bring skilled workers from abroad to other industries.

Some immigration advocates say the scheme is undermining American workers — but critics say the visas allow the U.S. to attract the world’s best technology.

The president-elect tried it, saying he supports the program – despite his previous opposition – and tech billionaire Elon Musk has also defended it, saying it attracts “the top ~0.1% of tech talent”.

Here’s what the data tells us about who enters the US on these visas.

H-1B visas for skilled workers were introduced in 1990. They are usually issued for three years, but can be extended up to six years.

Since 2004, the number of new H-1B visas issued has reached 85,000 per year – 20,000 of which are reserved for foreign students with a master’s degree or higher from US universities.

However, that cap does not apply to other organizations such as universities, think tanks and other non-profit groups, so more information is provided.

Individuals can apply for an H-1B visa if they have a job with a company or organization in the US.

The US government is also approving the addition of those already working in the country.

More than 386,000 H-1B jobs were approved in fiscal year 2023 (August 2022-September 2023), the most recent year for which we have complete information, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) statistics..

This includes approximately 119,000 new H-1B visas and 267,000 extensions of existing visas.

The total for 2023 is down from 474,000 in 2022.

There have been attempts to restrict the H-1B program in the past.

In 2017, former President Trump signed an executive order the number of H-1B visa reviews. The law was intended to improve the detection of fraud in the scheme.

Refusal rates reached at always under the first Trump administrationto 24% in 2018, compared to a decline of between 5-8% under the Obama administration and between 2-4% under President Biden.

However, the total number of registrations under Biden’s administration has been the same as it was during Trump’s first.

In the three years following President Trump’s plan (2018-2020), about 1.1 million applications were approved, and about 343,000 of those were first-time applicants.

In the first three years of Biden’s administration (2021-2023), about 1.2 million applications were approved, about 375,000 being new applicants.

Demand often exceeds the number of visas issued – in many years there are thousands more submitted than approved.

At times when more applications are received than visas are available, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) effectively operates the H-1B program as a lottery – which critics believe highlights a major flaw in the system.

“At the end of the day, if you’re going to have a program for ‘skilled’ workers, you’re not going to give these visas out through a lottery,” said Eric Ruark, director of research at NumbersUSA, an immigration advocacy group. they control it.

“Obviously, that’s not how you get the best and the brightest.”

We don’t have a full report on the numbers for 2024, but the preliminary numbers show that applications will increase significantly.

Number of eligible applicants published by USCIS projected 758,994 jobs in fiscal year 2024, compared to 474,421 in 2023.

When Trump returned to the White House in January, Ruark said he believed resolving the H-1B controversy would ultimately be one of the defining features of his presidency.

“Will the second term be the American worker, or will it go back to the old Republican position that people immigrate to help employers – by paying American workers?” he said.

“It’s going to be a big fight in the second round.”

Most of the admitted applicants work in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Most are in computer-related jobs – 65% by 2023.

This was followed by construction, engineering and research – about 10% of people admitted in 2023 worked in those sectors.

In the case of companies, Amazon was a top employer of H-1B visa holders in 2024, hiring more than 13,000 workers through the program.

Other well-known names such as Google, Meta, and Apple are at the top of the list of employers – placing 4, 6 and 8 respectively.

Tesla, one of the companies owned by Elon Musk – who sponsored the program – ranked 22nd, employing more than 1,700 people on H-1B visas.

California and Texas were the states with the most people working on the H-1B visa in 2024.

The median income for US workers on an H-1B visa in 2023 was $118,000 (£94,046).

The average annual income of the people in computer and math jobs in the US averaged $113,000 – slightly less than that in similar fields through the H-1B program.

The median household income in the US it is about $60,000 a year.

While opponents of the H-1B system often argue that H-1B holders lower the wages of American workers, some immigration lawyers and professionals dispute the idea.

Most H-1B holders earn more than the “prevailing wage” for their job – a figure set by the Department of Labor that calculates the wages paid to similar workers in other parts of the country.

Shev Dalal-Dheini, director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told the BBC that, although the current wages are “not a labor market test”, it shows that H-1B visa holders are not. disrupting the rest of the workforce.

“Let’s say you’re a software engineer in Washington, DC. You’re looking at the number of software engineers in DC, and you have to make sure you’re paying that amount,” said Dalal-Dheini, who also worked. on H-1B issues when I was an officer at USCIS.

“You don’t cut wages that way.”

In addition, Dalal-Dheini said US companies must also pay a fee to file an H-1B petition, often in addition to the fee.

“Companies that can support H-1B [recipients] they’re looking at $5,000 to $10,000 more than what you have to pay an American worker,” he said.

“The most important thing is that if they can find an American worker who is qualified, many companies will choose to hire the American worker, because it will save money.”

Most of those accepted are from India.

The new features are shown about 72% of the visas were issued to Indian nationals, followed by 12% to Chinese nationals.

About 1% came from the Philippines, Canada and South Korea respectively.

About 70% of those entering the US on H-1B visas are men, and the average age of those admitted is about 33.

Additional reporting by Becky Dale.