A National Foundation for American Policy analysis has found that there has been a significant increase in denial rates for H-1B visa petitions for initial (new) employment. The H-1B program is the largest temporary visa program in the United States, serving as the primary means of entry to the country for skilled immigrants. President Trump has been a vocal critic of the initiative, claiming employers have been abusing it and that it has driven down wages for Americans. Back in April 2016, Trump issued his "Buy American and Hire American" executive order which subsequently resulted in USCIS and its adjudicators raising the standard of proof for approving H-1B petitions, even though no new law or regulation permitted the agency to do so legally.
In FY 2015, the denial rate for initial employment nationwide was 6% and that has now climbed to 32%. Unsurprisingly, that increase has affected many of America's biggest and best-known tech companies who have become reliant on skilled foreign workers placed through the scheme. The analysis found that all of the 27 companies USCIS lists as the top employers of H-1B visa holders saw an increase in their denial rates between FY2015 and FY2019 with the trend moving towards further increases. The following infographic provides an overview of the denial rate across ten well-known companies with Ernst & Young going from 0.3% in 2015 to 44% in 2019.
Microsoft also saw its denial rate increase from 1% to 13% during the same period while Amazon's grew from 1% to 5%. Apple and Google also suffered increases, though not as drastic with both companies seeing their denial rates climb from 1% to 3%. Along with initial employment, H-1B denials for continuing employment are also growing steadily. The denial rate for continuing employment was just 3% in FY2015 and that climbed to 18% by FY2019. Some companies are also seeing denial rates for H-1B petitions for continuing employment higher than 40%.
*Charted by Statista
Denial rate of H-1B petitions for initial employment in the U.S.
