U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on Friday announced the suspension of expedited processing for the H-1B visa, a temporary residency option for graduate-level workers in STEM fields including mathematics, medicine, and computer science. The agency regularly suspends quick processing for a few weeks to deal with application backlogs, but the length of this suspension is unusual.
The visa program is particularly popular among tech firms in the San Francisco Bay Area, where foreign workers often stay three to six years in computer engineering positions. The fast processing suspension will begin April 3 and last for up to six months, affecting applications for 2018 visas.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Zimbabwe's walk on the wild side with Yellow Zebra SafarisThe Week Recommends Take a tour of two magnificent national parks with an expert guide
-
Thailand's makeover into White Lotus-inspired glamourThe Week Recommends The location for season three of the hit HBO series is spurring a luxury 'tourism frenzy'
-
Axel Rudakubana: how much did the authorities know about Southport killer?Today's Big Question Nigel Farage accuses PM of a cover-up as release of new details raises 'very serious questions for the state about how it failed to intervene before tragedy struck'
-
US port strike averted with tentative labor dealSpeed Read The strike could have shut down major ports from Texas to Maine
-
Biden expected to block Japanese bid for US SteelSpeed Read The president is blocking the $14 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japan's Nippon Steel, citing national security concerns
-
Judges block $25B Kroger-Albertsons mergerSpeed Read The proposed merger between the supermarket giants was stalled when judges overseeing two separate cases blocked the deal
-
Rupert Murdoch loses 'Succession' court battleSpeed Read Murdoch wanted to give full control of his empire to son Lachlan, ensuring Fox News' right-wing editorial slant
-
Bitcoin surges above $100k in post-election rallySpeed Read Investors are betting that the incoming Trump administration will embrace crypto
-
Enron mystery: 'sick joke' or serious revival?Speed Read 23 years after its bankruptcy filing, the Texas energy firm has announced its resurrection
-
US charges Indian tycoon with bribery, fraudSpeed Read Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has been indicted by US prosecutors for his role in a $265 million scheme to secure solar energy deals
-
Boeing machinists approve contract, end strikeSpeed Read The company's largest union approved the new contract offer, ending a seven-week strike
