The Trump Administration has
passed no new immigration legislation or regulation. However, the
administration's stated focus on protecting the American
worker, as articulated in its 2017 Buy American and Hire American
Executive Order, has affected H-1B visa processing times to the
detriment of employers seeking to either bring their best overseas
talent to the United States, or to recruit qualified foreign
nationals to work here. The bureaucratic slowdown is evident at the
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
stateside, and at U.S. consulates that review work visa stamp
applications overseas.
The USCIS and U.S. consular
officers are issuing more requests for further evidence (RFEs) and
requests for further information (RFIs) in connection with these
visa petitions. In fact, USCIS statistics show that RFEs issued by
the USCIS increased by 40 percent in the first three months of
2018. In some cases, the USCIS has taken to issuing two RFEs for
the
