Employment immigration ban may only be temporary

Canadians working in the U.S. and those who had intentions of establishing a career across the border likely have grave concerns about their futures. Multiple questions exist about the impact of the recent suspension of the H1-B expedited processing plan on employment immigration between Canada and the United States. Recent reports showed protestors at airports where travellers in possession of valid visas were prevented from entering America.

Reportedly, the intention of the U.S. Government is to revamp the H1-B program to put an end to employers misusing work visas to employ foreigners at levels below minimum wages. Officials said holders of existing valid employment visas would not be included in the ban. The H1-B visa program was widely embraced by tech companies who used it as a passageway to bring foreigners with exceptional skills to the United States by vying for the 85,000 visas made available per year.

Businesses that made use of this program ranged from media to healthcare, but the field that was most predominant in its use of the H1-B program was tech companies. Unfortunately, the opportunity has now been suspended, and there is no news of whether it will be reintroduced in the future. Tech companies insist they only hired foreign talent for positions that could not be filled by U.S. workers or foreign graduates of U.S. universities.

One of the problems identified involved outsourcing firms that offered their services to handle H1-B visa applications on behalf of companies in exchange for sizeable cuts of the salaries of the successful applicants. Reportedly, these companies flooded the system with applications, causing significant backlogs. Citizens of Canada who are still interested in finding employment in the United States need not give up. An experienced employment immigration lawyer can answer the many questions there might be, and he or she will always have up-to-date knowledge of any legal changes that may affect the applicant’s status.