Getty ImagesAn immigration row has erupted between Donald Trump's supporters over the long-standing US visa programme.
The dispute revolves around H-1B visas, which allow US-based companies to bring skilled workers from abroad into certain industries.
Some immigration hardliners say the scheme undermines American workers, but supporters say the visas allow the United States to attract the best expertise from around the world.
The president-elect has commented that he supports the program – despite criticizing it in the past – and tech billionaire Elon Musk has defended it, saying it attracts the “top 0.1% of engineering talent.”
Here's what the data tells us about people entering the United States on these visas.
How many people are approved each year?
H-1B visas for skilled workers were introduced in 1990. They are typically granted for three years, but can be extended for up to six years.
Since 2004, the number of new H-1B visas issued has been capped at 85,000 per year — 20,000 of which are reserved for foreign students with master's degrees or higher from U.S. universities.
However, this cap does not apply to some institutions such as universities, think tanks and other non-profit research groups, so they are issued more often.
People can only apply for an H-1B visa if they have a job associated with a US-based sponsoring company or organization.
The US government is also approving extensions for those already working in the country.
Just over 386,000 H-1B applications were approved in fiscal year 2023 (October 2022 to September 2023), the most recent year for which we have complete data, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) numbers..
This includes approximately 119,000 new H-1B visas and approximately 267,000 extensions of existing visas.
The 2023 total is down from more than 474,000 in 2022.
There have been efforts to restrict the H-1B supplement program in the past.
In 2017, then-President Trump He signed an executive order This has led to increased scrutiny of H-1B visa applications. The order sought to enhance the detection of fraud within the scheme.
Rejection rates have reached The highest level ever under the first Trump administrationTo reach 24% in fiscal year 2018, compared to rejection rates that ranged between 5-8% during the Obama administration and 2-4% during the era of President Biden.
However, the total number of approved applicants under the Biden administration was similar to that under the first Trump.
In the three years following President Trump's executive order (2018-2020), about 1.1 million applications were approved, including about 343,000 first-time applicants.
In the first three years of the Biden administration (2021-2023), about 1.2 million applications were approved, including nearly 375,000 new applicants.
Demand often exceeds the volume of visas granted – in most years, there are thousands more applications submitted than approved.
In cases where more applications are received than visas are available, USCIS effectively runs the H-1B program as a lottery — which critics believe highlights a fundamental flaw in the system.
“Ultimately, if you have a skilled worker program for 'skilled' workers, you're not awarding these visas by lottery,” said Eric Rourke, research director at NumbersUSA, an organization that advocates for tighter immigration. Controls.
“This is clearly not the way you find the best and brightest.”
We don't have a full report on 2024 numbers yet, but preliminary numbers suggest that orders have increased sharply.
Number of eligible registrations Published by USCIS It showed 758,994 applications in fiscal year 2024, compared to 474,421 in 2023.
As Trump returns to the White House in January, Rourke said he believes resolution of the H-1B debate will ultimately be among the factors that define his presidency.
“Will the second term be pro-American workers, or will it return to the old Republican position that immigration is designed to help employers at the expense of American workers?” he asked. He said.
“This is going to be a huge battle in the second term.”
What industries and companies do they work in?
The vast majority of approved applicants work in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.
Most of them work in computer-related occupations – 65% in fiscal year 2023.
This was followed by architecture, engineering and surveying – with around 10% of people approved in 2023 working in those sectors.
At the corporate level, Amazon was the top employer of people granted H-1B visas in 2024, employing more than 13,000 employees through the program.
Other familiar names such as Google, Meta and Apple rank high on the list of employers – ranking fourth, sixth and eighth respectively.
Tesla, a company owned by Elon Musk – who supported the program – ranked 22nd, employing more than 1,700 people on an H-1B visa.
California and Texas were the states with the largest number of people working on an H-1B visa in 2024.
How much do they earn?
The average annual income for people working in the US on an H-1B visa in 2023 was $118,000 (£94,046).
the Average annual income of people in computer and mathematics occupations across the United States is about $113,000 — slightly less than that in similar sectors across the H-1B program.
the Average family income In the United States, about $60,000 annually.
While opponents of the H-1B system often argue that H-1B holders underpay American workers, some immigration lawyers and experts dispute this idea.
The vast majority of H-1B visa holders earn more than the “prevailing wage” for their occupation — a number set by the Department of Labor that calculates the average wage paid to similarly employed workers in a particular part of the country.
Chief Dalal Dhaini, director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told the BBC that while prevailing wages are “not a complete test of the labor market,” they point to the fact that H-1B visa holders are not. Which negatively affects the rest of the workforce.
“Let's say you're a software engineer in Washington, D.C.,” said Dalal Al-Dahini, who also worked. “Look at the going rate for software engineers in D.C., and you have to attest that you're paying at least that amount.” on H-1B cases while serving as a USCIS official.
“You don't really reduce wages that way.”
In addition, Dalal Al-Dahini said, American companies also have to pay significant fees to file H-1B petitions, often in addition to attorney fees.
“Companies that end up sponsoring H-1B[recipients]are anticipating costs of $5,000 to $10,000, on top of what you have to pay the American worker,” she said.
“The bottom line is that if they can find a qualified American worker, most companies will likely choose to hire that American worker, because that will be a cost savings.”
Where do people come from?
The vast majority of those approved come from India.
the The latest data showed About 72% of the visas were issued to Indian nationals, followed by 12% to Chinese nationals.
About 1% came from the Philippines, Canada and South Korea, respectively.
About 70% of people who enter the United States on H-1B visas are men, and the average age of those approved is about 33 years.
Additional reporting by Becky Dale.
