Congress doubles H-1B fee to $4,000
The visa fee must be paid with the initial application and on any extension.
The visa fee must be paid with the initial application and on any extension.
Under today's prevailing wage rules, H-1B workers can be paid well less than half that amount in some U.S. regions.
Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), a vocal critic of the use of H-1B workers at Disney, introduced legislation this week to reduce the H-1B visa cap by nearly 25%.
Not only visa holders would be affected. People traveling to the U.S. to attend, for instance, a technology conference as a business visitor under the B-1 visa could be excluded by the ban.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, a critic of the H-1B program, also opposes the current system of "binding workers to a specific employer."
Apple says workforce diversity "inspires creativity and innovation," but one of Apple's major contractors, Infosys, is far from diverse.
A top White House official told House lawmakers this week that the replacement of U.S. workers by H-1B visa holders is troubling and not supposed to happen. But it is hard to tell whether the administration will do anything about it. The signals are mixed.