STAFFING AND SERVICE COMPANIES UNDER ATTACK FROM USCIS

Staffing companies are under attack from the USCIS.  H-1B denial rates at service and staffing companies greatly exceed H-1B denial rates at non-staffing companies.  For instance, a recent Forbes article points out that,
 

“In FY 2018, USCIS denied 80% of the H-1B petitions for new (initial) employment for Capgemini, a French multinational, 61% for U.S. company Cognizant, and between 34% and 54% for IT services companies Syntel, Infosys, Mindtree and HCL America. To put these figures in perspective, major U.S. tech companies, including Amazon, Facebook and Apple, had 1% or 2% of their new H-1B petitions denied in FY 2018.”

The problem was once limited to IT staffing companies, but MU is aware of many healthcare staffing companies who are also seeing unprecedented RFEs.  A recent change to the LCA form now requires all H-1B employers to reveal client names and worksites. 

Adding to the concern is the long-rumored H-1B regulatory change that will cement current H-1B policies against third-party placement of H-1B workers, make a stricter definition of specialty occupation, and raise prevailing wages.  If past changes are any guide, these regulatory changes will probably have little basis in Congressional statute.