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WAYS AROUND TRUMP’S
$100,000 VISA FEE
While the US President
ing the visa last year, more than double the
number in 2020.
n TN: Workers from Mexico or Canada could
set the cat among be eligible for this visa as a part of the
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement,
the pigeons with his formerly known as the North American
Free Trade Agreement.
stricture on H-1B visas, n H-1B1: The US-Singapore Free Trade
Agreement and the US-Chile Free Trade
companies have multiple Agreement, which took effect on Jan. 1,
2004, created a new class of non-immi-
other options for getting grant work visa for those from Singapore
and Chile.
employees to the US n E-1 or E-2: Workers from countries that
have a US treaty of commerce like the
| Danielle Abril United Kingdom, France or Germany
mirrorfeedback@[Link] might be eligible, but the visa doesn’t
include China or India. Workers employed
T
he Trump administration’s plan to by companies owned and controlled by
implement a $100,000 fee for those nationals of treaty countries might also be
chosen for a high-skilled worker visa is eligible for E-1 or E-2.
stirring uncertainty among employ- n E-3: Specialty occupation visa for
ers and could spur them to seek other those from Australia.
paths to acquire highly skilled workers abroad. n L-1: Companies may hire
The H-1B visa is popular among tech com- people to work at their foreign sub-
panies, with Amazon, Microsoft and informa- sidiaries for a year and apply for
tion technology contractors like Infosys and this visa reserved for intracom-
Cognizant among some of the largest users. pany transfers.
But organisations in industries like health n OPT: For inter-
care, education and non-profits may also be national students who
impacted depending on the details of the pol- receive science, technolo-
icy, immigration attorneys said. gy, engineering and
The new policy is probably going to create mathematics degrees and are
bottlenecks for talent at a time when the selected in the H-1B lottery, com-
United States is in “an intense technological panies could buy time by having
competition,” said Dan Wang, professor of them use their extended three years of
social enterprise at Columbia Business School. optional practical training before submit-
“The need for talent and skills has never been ting the application, said Enrique
at a bigger premium.” Gonzalez, co-chair of Fragomen, Del Rey,
Companies that can’t find qualified US Bernsen & Loewy LLP.
workers could resort to seeking alterna- “Some are better options than others
tive visas for immigrant workers, part- strategy a lot depending on the individuals, their work,
ner with companies offshore for tal- of big firms are where they are in the organization chart,”
ent, open more offices and subsidi- using.” Jorge Lopez, chair of global mobility and
aries abroad, hire contractors or Companies could immigration practice group at Littler
have them work remotely consider hiring workers or Mendelson PC said.
while they apply for perma- contractors remotely from
nent residency, attorneys firms that provide the talent. Green cards
and advisers said. Former Uber executive Carrol Chang Companies willing to hire workers remotely at
Ted Chiappari, head now runs a marketplace to help connect least temporarily could also choose to go
of Duane Morris LLP’s employers to engineering talent. The com- straight for a green card application, expedit-
immigration law pany, called Andela, has been operating ing that process versus applying for an H-1B
group, said employ- since 2014 with workers spread across over first.
ers are deciding wheth- 135 countries. Depending on a person’s nationality, it
er to freeze H-1B hires, “Covid showed us that companies and hir- could take a couple of years or more than five,
change processes or “roll the ing managers can get comfortable with the Gonzalez said. But they could also turn to the
dice and file without the $100,000 idea of remote work in ways they had never “Einstein visa” or the EB-1A, which is reserved
and hope it squeaks through.” envisioned before,” Chang said. “This [visa] for those with “extraordinary” abilities, “out-
Here are some alternatives for employ- fee hike is part of the broader conversation of standing” professors and researchers or certain
ers seeking H-1B workers. whether work can be borderless.” executives or managers. Kulkarni said often
tech workers are unknowingly eligible for this
Offshoring Alternative work visas green card, which usually has a shorter wait
Companies that don’t want to deal with work There are alternative work visas that compa- time.
visas could simply look to offshore the work. nies could seek for skilled immigrant workers. “There’s a lack of awareness around it,”
And that’s historically been the pattern, said n O-1: This visa is reserved for workers with said Kulkarni, who got her green card this way
Britta Glennon, assistant professor at the “extraordinary” abilities in sciences, art, despite first thinking she wouldn’t meet the
Wharton School of the University of affiliates and hiring more people at foreign education, business or athletics. The visa criteria. “If you are a founder you typically
Pennsylvania and research fellow at the offices, she said. But this strategy only works has a higher bar as employers have to show have built [the qualifications] up.”
National Bureau of Economic Research. For for larger organisations with the capital to do that an employee is at the top of their field, For now, most companies are waiting to
example, in 2004 the H-1B cap was reduced it. said Priyanka Kulkarni, a former H-1B see what new details roll out and whether
by more than 65 percent after the temporary “The idea is you try to hire an immigrant holder and Microsoft AI leader who is now Trump’s executive order is litigated, attorneys
cap raised by the American Competitiveness in the US and you can’t… so you say ‘I’m founder and CEO of business immigration said.
in the Twenty-First Century Act expired. done dealing with this’ and set up an office in provider Casium. Still, the O-1 is growing “We’re only in the first 10 minutes of a
Companies started building more foreign China or India,” she said. “That’s a major in popularity with 19,457 workers receiv- three-hour movie,” Gonzalez said.