H-1B Denial Rate Plummets under Biden

The denial rate for H-1B visa applications dropped to only 4% in FY2021 after reaching a rate of 24% in FY2018. The dramatic change in the denial rate demonstrates the key difference between Pres. Trump’s ‘America First’ immigration policy versus Pres. Biden’s policy, which is much more favorable for foreign workers and the companies that seek them.

The H-1B visa is a guest-worker program that allows companies to hire higher-skilled foreign workers. However, the visa program has been abused by employers over the years as a way to hire a cheap and dependable workforce to the detriment of American tech workers.

Part of the reason for the huge shift is because of rulings from federal judges who said the Trump policies were unlawful. But the Biden Administration supports an immigration system that’s more favorable for employers who hire foreign workers and failed to defend the Trump policies.

The court rulings not only determined that the Trump policies made it too hard for employers to hire H-1B workers, but they also rejected the Trump administration’s narrower definition of “specialty occupations.” The term “speciality occupations” has been used by administration to include most professional professions.

In the 6 years prior to Trump’s election, the H-1B visa denial rate was below 10%. It spiked to over 10% from FY2016 through FY2020. FY2021 was the first year that the rate returned to below 10% since Trump had entered office.

For more on this story, see Forbes.com.