The United States Department of Homeland Security’s Citizenship and Immigration Services has released new and strict rules for H-1B visas, the permit used by many-a-tech-company to bring skilled workers to the USA from abroad.

President Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to restrict use of the visas, which he claimed are used to import workers who are paid less than locals and therefore make it harder for US citizens to get a job. Trump was also uncomfortable with outsourcers’ use of the visa, saying they displaced American workers. Labour hire agencies also sought the visa, bringing in people and then finding them jobs after they arrived.

The USA’s recently cracked down on employers who use the visa, with more inspections to make sure they’re not being abused.

Now a new Policy Memorandum (PDF), released late last week, revealed the Trump Administration’s plans to make H-1B visas harder to obtain by requiring extensive documentation about exactly what workers will do, why they’re needed and where they will work.

Now, if you’re familiar with the H1-B program, but have not followed it closely, you are probably asking yourself, “Wait, this is supposed to be for workers who are unavailable inside the US, why weren’t they already required to provide, ‘Extensive documentation about exactly what workers will do, why they’re needed and where they will work,’?”

If you have followed it closely, you know that the program has NEVER really been about finding unique and special talents that cannot be found in America.  It has ALWAYS been about getting cheap labor to keep wages down, particularly in the tech industry.

Applicants will now need to demonstrate they are already an employee of a stateside organisation, while businesses who hire H-1B holders must provide signed “detailed statements of work or work orders” and a letter detailing “… the specialized duties the beneficiary will perform, the qualifications required to perform those duties, the duration of the job, salary or wages paid, hours worked, benefits, a detailed description of who will supervise the beneficiary and the beneficiary’s duties, and any other related evidence.”

Ummm ……… If you do not already know the duties required and the other details listed above, then your H1-B application is fraudulent.

I understand that this policy likely is more driven by a general hostility to immigration than it is a concern about fair wages for skilled workders, and I expect this to be walked back significantly under pressure from tech lobbyists and the cheap labor crowd, but it’s a good start.