Amazon and Google, two major U.S. companies that frequently employ H-1B workers, recently decided to suspend Green Card applications for the remainder of 2024. Coming right after mass layoffs in the tech industry, the move has sent ripples through the immigrant workforce seeking long-term residency in the United States.
Reportedly, both companies have paused new permanent labor certification (PERM) filings until next year due to processing difficulties. A PERM certification issued by the Department of Labor (DOL) allows an employer to hire a foreign worker to work permanently in the United States. It is necessary for employers to first obtain a PERM certification before submitting a Green Card petition to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for hiring a noncitizen.
While Amazon informed its employees that the company would temporarily halt all PERM filings through 2024, Google has stopped the PERM process until the first quarter of 2025. Industry experts believe that several other tech companies could follow suit, leaving many highly skilled foreign workers in a state of uncertainty. Moreover, the trend could have far-reaching consequences for the American tech industry, as valuable foreign talent may drain out to alternative destinations with more favorable immigration policies.
In this article, we will discuss the challenges faced by H-1B workers and the best alternative pathway they can take to gain more control over their future in the United States.
How the H-1B Visa Is Failing Immigrant Workers
Why EB-5 Is the Safer Green Card Route for H-1B Workers
Contact EB5AN to Speed Up Your Green Card Process
How the H-1B Visa Is Failing Immigrant Workers
Mass layoffs by U.S. tech giants in the past couple of years—and now the Green Card suspensions by Amazon and Google—have once again highlighted the unreliability of the H-1B visa for securing long-term prospects in the United States. Even as they work hard to build their careers and hope for a well-settled life in the United States, H-1B visa holders constantly worry about loss of employment and deportation until they get permanent resident status for themselves and their family members.
Since its establishment in 1990, the H-1B program has been widely used by U.S. companies to address labor shortages in specialty occupations by hiring skilled workers from overseas. In turn, the H-1B visa has been highly sought after by foreign professionals to pursue career opportunities in the United States and eventually apply for the coveted Green Card.
Despite its popularity, the program has some limitations, which have made it challenging for foreign workers to secure and maintain H-1B visa status.
Limited Availability
The law caps the number of H-1B visas that can be issued each fiscal year at 65,000, with an additional 20,000 visas for applicants with a master’s degree or higher from a U.S. institution.
However, the yearly demand for H-1B visas is much higher than the slots made available every fiscal year, which is why a lottery system has been put into place to randomly select petitions for processing. Those who do not get selected in the lottery must wait until the next fiscal year to obtain the H-1B visa, again through the lottery selection. Needless to say, many deserving candidates fail to get the visa even if they have a qualifying job offer from a U.S. employer.
Dependency on Employment
The main drawback of the H-1B visa is that it is tied to the H-1B worker’s employment, making them dependent on their employer for their legal status. H-1B workers cannot live and work in the United States without an employer’s sponsorship. If they lose their job, they have a limited window of 60 days to find a new H-1B sponsor or leave the country.
Switching jobs is also a complex process for H-1B workers, as they are permitted to work only for the employer that sponsored their visa. This restricts their career growth and bargaining power for better wages or work conditions.
Temporary Residency
The H-1B visa is a nonimmigrant temporary visa granted for an initial period of three years, with a provision of another three-year extension. Renewal beyond the six-year period is allowed only under certain conditions. The visa does not offer a direct path to permanent residency, and the Green Card process must be pursued independent of the H-1B status.
Restrictions on Family
Qualified family members of H-1B workers (the spouse and unmarried children under 21) can stay in the United States on an H-4 dependent visa, but they are not allowed to take up employment unless they have work authorization. Most importantly, their visa status completely depends on the H-1B holder’s visa. If the primary H-1B worker loses their legal status, other family members on an H-4 visa must also leave the United States.
H-1B workers and their families also face certain travel restrictions that make international travel complicated for them.
Why EB-5 Is the Safer Green Card Route for H-1B Workers
Traditionally, H-1B workers applied for permanent residency through their employers, who filed PERM certifications for the H-1B employees as the first step in the Green Card process. But with many U.S. companies now reducing their workforce and halting PERM filings, H-1B workers must find other alternatives to get permanent resident status in the United States.
Moreover, the EB-2 and EB-3 immigrant visa categories that were the mainstay of H-1B workers for obtaining their employment-based Green Cards are now heavily backlogged. Due to high demand and limited per-country quota, there is a waiting list for all nationalities in these categories.
For Indian nationals, who form the bulk of the H-1B workforce in the United States, the waiting time is inconceivably long. The demand-to-supply ratio is so high that some applicants may have to wait for decades before they get their permanent residency, while others may not even receive it in their lifetime.
In contrast, the EB-5 visa is one of the fastest employment-based Green Card routes, offering permanent residency to foreign nationals in exchange for investment in a U.S. business. The backlog is not as severe and does not exist at all for targeted employment area (TEA) investments. The fast-track EB-5 Green Card could be the perfect solution for H-1B visa holders looking to move away from the instability of their temporary status.
Benefits of the EB-5 Visa
The U.S. Congress established the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program to stimulate economic growth through job creation and capital investment by foreign investors.
The program allows foreign investors and their eligible family members (the spouse and unmarried children under 21) to obtain lawful permanent residency in the United States through investment in a new commercial enterprise if the investment creates at least 10 permanent full-time jobs for qualified U.S. workers.
Unlike H-1B, the EB-5 program provides foreign nationals and their families a direct route to permanent residency in the United States. They can apply for U.S. citizenship within five years of receiving their Green Cards.
Although EB-5 is an employment-based immigrant visa, it is not dependent on the employment of the investors. In fact, the EB-5 visa gives complete freedom to investors as well as their families to live, work, study, or retire anywhere within the United States. There is no need for any employer sponsorship for EB-5 visa holders. They have the flexibility to take up any job, start a business, or freelance in any field of their choice.
EB-5 investors and their family members are eligible for almost the same education, healthcare, and social benefits as those available to U.S. citizens. They can also travel abroad without any constraints. In short, the EB-5 Green Card offers them a lifetime of stability and security for which they came to the United States.
Expedited Green Cards
In 2022, substantial reforms were introduced in the program after the enactment of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA). Besides making the program safer for investors, the new legislation introduced the provision of EB-5 concurrent filing for applicants already in the United States on nonimmigrant visas such as H-1B and the F-1 student visa.
This provision allows nonimmigrants to file the petition for adjustment of status (Form I-485) at the same time as their EB-5 petition (Form I-526E) without waiting for the latter’s approval. Having filed these two petitions, they can continue to stay in the United States even if they lose their employment. They can also apply for work and travel permits, which are generally approved within months.
Concurrent filing has opened up unlimited opportunities for H-1B workers, who can now live and work in the United States without fearing job loss or enduring restricted career prospects. By obtaining work and travel authorization, they can start enjoying the benefits of the Green Card even before they receive one.
Moreover, under the RIA’s priority processing provision, investors in rural EB-5 projects benefit from faster processing times compared to other categories, resulting in unusually quick I-526E approvals.
Contact EB5AN to Speed Up Your Green Card Process
The EB-5 visa can offer long-term stability for foreign workers in the United States, especially given the recent challenges in the tech industry faced by H-1B workers.
If you are considering the EB-5 pathway to permanent residency, EB5AN can provide the necessary guidance and help you find the best EB-5 investments suitable for your individual needs.
EB5AN has helped more than 2,300 families from 60 countries relocate to the United States as lawful permanent residents. Our expert team has more than a decade of experience and offers clients first-rate, low-risk EB-5 regional center projects with a 100% USCIS project approval rate.
To hear about the real-life success stories of EB-5 investors, check out our testimonials.
If you’d like to know more about switching from H-1B to EB-5, book a free call with our expert team today.
