Foreign Workers Decreased, Leaving US Jobs Unfilled

The decrease in new temporary foreign workers in the US due to the pandemic has not led to better labor market outcomes for the Americas but has led to jobs remaining unfilled.

A study done by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), a nonpartisan research organization, points out that the number of H-1B specialty occupations visas issued fell from almost 190,000 in the fiscal year 2019 to about 125,000 in the fiscal year 2020 and under 62,000 in the fiscal year 2021. Other work visas such as H-2 (for low skill, non-agricultural work) or J-1 exchange visitor visas also showed significant drops.

Currently, US employers are preparing for the annual H-1B cap lottery. The USCIS has announced that the registration window for the fiscal year 2023 will open on March 1 and close on March 18. Thus, there is a short period within which sponsoring employers must register each beneficiary for whom they want to file an H-1B visa.

If USCIS reaches the annual quota by March 18, the immigration agency will conduct a random lottery to select registrations and notify selection results by March 31.

Immigration attorneys anticipate many registrations to obtain one of the 85,000 H-1B cap visas (which include a Masters's cap of 20,000) that will ultimately be allotted.

In fiscal 2021, USCIS received 274,237 H-1B registrations, which increased by 12.5% to 308,613 in fiscal 2022. However, in an unprecedented move, USCIS conducted a lottery thrice during fiscal 2022, the last one being in November.