Written by Through the H-1B program, U.S. employers are able to hire, on a temporary basis, highly educated foreign professionals for “specialty occupations”—jobs that require at least a bachelor’s degree or the equivalent in the field of specialty. Examples include doctors, engineers, teachers and researchers in a wide variety of fields, accountants, medical personnel, and computer scientists. Besides using these foreign professionals to obtain unique skills and knowledge in short supply in this country, U.S. businesses use the program to alleviate temporary shortages of U.S. professionals in specific occupations, and to acquire special expertise in overseas economic trends and issues, thereby allowing U.S. businesses to compete in global markets.
U.S. employers also turn to H-1B professionals when they recruit post-graduates from U.S. universities. Foreign students represent half of all U.S. graduate enrollments in engineering, math, and computer science. It is imperative that U.S. businesses have access to foreign professionals who have graduated from U.S. master’s and Ph.D. programs. The H-1B visa is a vital tool necessary to help in the recovery of the U.S. economy and to keep jobs in America. Far from harming U.S. workers and the U.S. economy, highly educated foreign professionals benefit our country by allowing U.S. employers to develop new products, undertake groundbreaking research, implement new projects, expand operations, create additional new jobs, and compete in the global marketplace.
H-1B workers do not undercut wages of U.S. workers. When an employer submits a petition for an H-1B worker, there are safeguards to help prevent highly educated foreign professionals from undercutting the wages offered to U.S. workers. The employer must offer the foreign professional a wage that is the higher of either the typical wage in the region for that type of work (“prevailing wage”), or what the employer actually pays existing employees with similar experience and duties. Furthermore, there are other safeguards that the employer must meet including indicating that: the foreign professional will not adversely affect the working conditions of U.S. colleagues, there is no strike or lockout at the worksite and the position requires a professional in a specialty occupation and the intended employee has the required qualifications.
To learn more about sponsoring an H-1B worker, schedule a consultation with Immigration Attorney D.Ray Mantle today.
