#visa

President Trump’s Secretary of Labor, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, had a one-on-one interview this week with The Daily Signal, a media outlet founded by The Heritage Foundation, the influential conservative think tank.

Chavez-DeRemer said her agency is currently working on almost 200 investigations, including the efforts of “Project Firewall,” an initiative that specifically monitors companies that are scamming and abusing the H-1B vias program.

Chavez-DeRemer asserts that before U.S. companies apply for the H-1B visa program, “you want to advertise to the American worker first, you want to make sure you can’t find an American worker first, and then apply for the H-1B program.”

She added, “The goal is to make sure that we have a trained workforce. So if these companies are going to use the program, we want to make sure that they’re also training American workers, so we can offer it to them first.”

U.S. Tech Workers, a nonprofit group formed by the Institute for Sound Public Policy to pressure the federal government for visa program reform and ensure companies hire U.S. tech workers first before recruiting abroad, responded to the Secretary’s comments.

U.S. Tech Workers characterizes as literal Chavez-DeRemer’s description of her ideal situation — companies advertising to American workers first — and wrote to clarify the limits of the actual legal responsibilities of H-1B employers: “Alarming to see @SecretaryLCD get basic H-1B facts wrong. She claims employers must first advertise jobs to Americans first-which is FALSE. There's no labor market test required, just self-attestation. How can you reform a program to protect Americans if you don't understand it?”

U.S. Tech Workers added: “It also appears that Project Firewall is merely targeting low-hanging IT bodyshops that once published ‘hiring H-1B only’ on job ads, rather than going after the Big Tech behemoths engaged in mass layoffs while simultaneously sponsoring visas. No structural rule changes are being proposed, such as closing the outsourcing loophole or raising the prevailing wage requirements. Disappointing @USDOL.”

The U.S. Tech Workers is not without influence or connections. The founder of the group, Kevin Lynn, met with President Trump at the White House in August 2020, when the President signed an executive order to, according to Trump, “finalize H1-B regulations so that no American worker is replaced ever again. H1-Bs, which are a scam should be used for top, highly paid talent to create American jobs, not as inexpensive labor program to destroy American jobs.”

I still have no clue why Dell is sponsoring and renewing H1b Visas while there is unprecedented unemployment in the tech sector right now. They should stop renewing any H1b Visas.

Cvs is flooded with visa holders while Americans are loosing jobs and homes. This is insane.

Did anyone else get bad year end review score (5) despite be producing and contribute worker? Is I target for the fireing on next layoffs?
Who can help me transferred visa to other company sponsor?

Ohhhhhh .You’ve done it again.

former Rep. Dave Brat alleges large-scale H-1B visa fraud linked to India.
Claims Chennai consulate issued 220,000 visas, far above the 85,000 cap.
Former U.S. diplomat reported forged documents, political pressure at same consulate...........................................................

•••
Capital One’s Indian Mafia Exposed: Massive H-1B Kickback Scheme Displaces American Workers
Capital One’s Indian Mafia Exposed: Massive H-1B Kickback Scheme Displaces American Workers https://thevisafiles.substack.com/p/capital-one

Former US Representative Dave Brat claims 'industrial-scale fraud' in H-1B system, alleging that Chennai district got 220,000 visas while India cap is 85,000

The Federal
26 Nov 2025 5:25 AM

Former US Representative and economist Dr Dave Brat has alleged widespread fraud within the H-1B visa system, claiming in a podcast that India’s Chennai district (Tamil Nadu) secured more than twice the total number of visas legally permitted nationwide.

Speaking on the podcast, Brat said the H-1B system had been "captured by industrial-scale fraud", asserting that visa allocations from India were surpassing the statutory limits.

https://thefederal.com/category/news/us-economist-flags-h1b-fraud-india-chennai-220000-visas-217952

Justice is coming back to US workers. But the dam age maybe too bad to recover from unless they start reversing statuses.

https://www.newsweek.com/h-1b-visa-update-department-labor-americans-11104262

https://www.newsweek.com/h-1b-visa-update-department-labor-americans-11104262

It is now new tactics to save money. Giving forced NS to senior person and lay him off without giving any severance package. Thus company is saving money.This is new trend in visa

Are visas being renewed for foreign workers on temporary assignment in the US?

Like Amazon are H1B's targeted in here. Any info on this.
If yes it would badly impact us on H1B

Trump admin to make decision on OPT end of year.
Many senators already sent letter to DHS secretary to abolish the program effective immediately.

For context , about 500K OPT is used by companies yearly. This is even worse than H1B
Just fresh graduates taking over your job.

For the H1B, MTG already introduced a bill to abolish it. Unfortunately, Trump wants the H1B to satisfy his tech donors and oligarchs.

Indian-origin Howard professor Ronil Hira, a critic of the H-1B visa, explained why U.S. companies favor it. Despite President Trump recently signaling a need for certain foreign talent, the administration imposed a $100,000 fee on H-1B hires, sending mixed messages. Hira noted that many H-1B workers have ordinary skills available domestically, but employers prefer them because they can be paid less and are bound to their employers. While some highly skilled workers do come via H-1B, the program often fills roles for cost and control rather than genuine skill gaps. Hira emphasized that H-1B is a labor policy, not an immigration issue, and criticized its weak worker protections, which make it attractive to Silicon Valley.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/they-are-controllable-indian-origin-howard-professor-explains-2-reasons-why-us-companies-prefer-h-1bs/articleshow/125350198.cms

Americans used to be qualified to do any job. What changed?

https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/news-releases/dhs-ends-automatic-extension-of-employment-authorization

Every year, the United States opens its doors to tens of thousands of H-1B visa holders — highly skilled professionals, mostly from India and China, who fill roles in technology, engineering, and healthcare. Politicians and CEOs justify it as a necessity: “We don’t have enough qualified workers.” But maybe the real question is — why don’t we?

The U.S. government has built a system that rewards importing talent instead of investing in it. For decades, America has underfunded public universities, allowed tuition to skyrocket, and turned higher education into a business. A degree in computer science or engineering can now leave a young American buried under six figures of debt. Meanwhile, companies say they “can’t find talent” and turn abroad — where other nations educate millions of students in STEM for a fraction of the cost.

Countries like India and China don’t just produce skilled graduates — they do it through public investment. Their taxpayers subsidize the training of engineers who later come to work for Google, Microsoft, or Amazon in America. The U.S. benefits from that education for free. It’s a brilliant deal for corporations — and a terrible one for American students.

The H-1B program wasn’t meant to undercut American workers, but that’s often the effect. It’s a convenient tool for corporations to access cheaper, compliant labor without addressing the deeper issue: America’s refusal to make education accessible and affordable. Free tuition or debt-free public universities would build a domestic pipeline of talent that could easily compete with the global workforce. But such reforms don’t attract corporate lobbyists. Visa programs do.

So, the cycle continues. The U.S. imports the best minds from abroad, while millions of bright young Americans are priced out of their own future. The “land of opportunity” keeps outsourcing opportunity itself.

If America truly wants to stay competitive in the 21st century, it must stop renting its brainpower and start growing it.

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/09/24/2025-18473/weighted-selection-process-for-registrants-and-petitioners-seeking-to-file-cap-subject-h-1b

On October 23 2025, White House press secretary said the “H1B system has been spammed with fraud”. I take that to mean they know the H1B system is abused and misused and perhaps some corrective actions need to occur.

I've been hearing some buzz about a potential change in policy at one of our Colorado offices. From what I've gathered, contractors are being given the green light to work permanently from home, while full-time employees (FTEs) are being asked to come back to the office.

I'm curious if anyone else has heard about this or has more details. It's got me wondering a few things:

Is this actually happening, and is it just in Colorado or across the whole company?

What does this mean for contractors in the long run? Are they going to be phased out or kept on indefinitely because of this work-from-home flexibility or forced to move out to other offices?

For FTEs, what are the implications, especially for those on visas like H-1B or L-1? How does this affect immigration compliance, and are there risks of layoffs, relocations, or forced conversions to contractor status?

If anyone has any insights or personal experiences, especially those in Colorado or who have been through something similar, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

So what have Singaporean, Canadian and European Expats in the US been told… are we sending them all back?

I need somebody to confirm the specific type of visa we are using to bring people over from KLTC and BTC. After the recent layoff announcements I think it’s high time for employees to go on defense. Based on my own research I think there is a credible case to be made the company is violating the intent of the visas being granted. If so, it’s time for employees to start leaving anonymous tips to several government offices who could investigate (USCIS, Homeland Security Investigations, Dept of Labor inspector general). More on that later. I need somebody with SPECIFIC knowledge of how we are bringing people over to comment.

Here’s the situation I have observed for years now: employees from our overseas technical centers come to U.S. manufacturing sites for 1–2-year assignments. They’ve typically worked for the company abroad for a couple of years in process or technical support roles, then rotate into our entry-level plant engineer jobs here.

The company says this is part of a rotation program to build knowledge, but these engineers seem to be doing the same daily production-support work as U.S. college-hire engineers — not managing people or bringing unique proprietary technology. Many of these sites now have at least one rotational engineer on staff at any given time, which could give the impression this is not about training, but instead a cost reduction program. Paired with decreasing headcount at the same sites, it might give the impression these visas are being used to promote offshoring.

Does that kind of role meet the L-1A or L-1B definition? From what I’ve read, L-1A is for managers/executives and L-1B for specialized knowledge. What type of visa are these ex pats?

Would this typically be considered valid use of the L-1 category?

Ford has more than 10k employees on H1B/H4/OPT Visas, it's the largest Visa bag holder Automaker in US.
Time to change the tag line,
Great Job Guys!!!

H1-B holders are disappearing

Next trip is heavily tax and higher tariff on companies hiring on offshore operations.

TATA Consulting Services CEO K. Krithivasan indicated the company will halt new H-1B recruitment and shift toward hiring locally in the US and other priority markets. TCS remains the largest US H-1B employer with 98,259 hires from 2009 to 2025, including 5,505 in 2025. He said the US already has sufficient H-1 staff, renewals will be selective, and local participation will rise, linked to AI work that needs client proximity and broader skill mixes, similar to TCS’s high local staffing in Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.

Analysts read this as a wider pivot in visa strategies. They expect companies such as Amazon, Cognizant, and Microsoft to favor L-1 transfers to avoid about 100,000 dollars per H-1B applicant, reducing fresh H-1B demand and speeding a move to L-1 routes for US roles.

TATA Consulting Services CEO K. Krithivasan says no new H-1B hiring soon, with a shift to growing local staff in the US and other markets. TCS will renew some existing H-1Bs, but aims to boost local participation, citing AI projects that need closer client work and broader skills.

Analysts expect others may copy this move. Companies may favor L-1 transfers to cut about 100,000 dollars per H-1B hire, reducing new H-1B demand.

Nokia has an "American" CEO for a purpose. But will TACO use American tax dollars to help Finland? Hope not, since Nokia has outsourced lots of American jobs in wireless telecom, fixed network, and cloud telecom networks to other nations such as China, India, CHINA (repeated for a reason), Poland, Hungry, Portugal, France, Canada, Mexico, etc. And decreased drastically the tens of thousands of employees they once had in USA. Also, major customers such as AT&T and Verizon kicked Nokia out of it's 5G network. And now they want to talk about working together on quantum and 6G after giving away the 4G and 5G technology to China (with China's 51% ownership of Nokia Shanghai Bell). Nokia is now begging the US gov't for partnership only because China has decreased it's business with Nokia drastically over the past several years. If China was still giving Nokia business and expanding in China, would Nokia have even hired an American CEO? By the way, Nokia told Trump it has 7000 employees in US, but they forgot to mention that 1/3 are on foreign work visa in every single business group including many in research. That amounts to ONLY about 5000 or less "American" employees.

I know one person was let go. That person told me entire team of three people were let go.
Spending on AI so Visa has to save money somewhere.

I’m tired of executives saying we need H1B, how come SpaceX has zero H1B? Exxon/Amazon are more innovative than SpaceX?

https://www.myvisajobs.com/employer/wells-fargo-bank/

https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/01/china/china-k-visa-backlash-intl-hnk

Dept of Labor is probing WF on H1B abuse. Wf has been identified as having hiring practices that have triggered concern for lack of compliance to H1b program.

Clearly, as we’ve all seen, WF has abused H1b in technology. This has now come to an end, with the company quickly moving off H1b use and renewals.

It’s one thing to use this program to hire where there is a true gap, but we know the reality and see it daily. - that is they’ve brought thousands of Indians with questionable skills and credentials to the U.S. and are paying them significantly less than American citizens while there is no shortage of qualified Americans. Thus, a pure cost play vs appropriate use of the visa.

Hiring people directly in another company and doing another round of layoffs

Be prepared for more layoffs in Clearwater

There is a bill introduced for H1B and L1(aka BTC) visa. Call your senators to add more harsh restrictions!! BTC expats must go!

Hi all,
With current h1b fee, do you think if any hope for new h1b hiring for QA positions at Dell? Thanks.

With 100k$ price tag for an H1-B and massive tariffs on outsourced labor and overseas remittances, get ready for an end to this scam of a program.

It's going to be a bright, sun shiny day.

Start packing, Saars.

It’s a 100k one time company fee for new H1Bs. This won’t affect existing H1BS. Theres like over 100 thousand of them already in the country. And they can just renew it. 100k one time fee is NOTHING for a company like Fiserv. They’ll probably just continue their same song and dance and continue to exploit America and the American people.

Both dems and reps are talking about reforming the visas.

Everyone knows it is hot garbage.

The end is nigh.