Close Menu
FarAwayJobs
    What's Hot
    Productivity

    How well are you engaging your employees?

    Study Abroad

    Empireland and the joys of studying abroad – The Daily Egyptian

    Study Abroad

    Premium Processing Expansions for Certain Visas

    Important Pages:
    • Free AI Resume
    • About Us
    • Contact us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Free AI Resume
    • About Us
    • Contact us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions
    FarAwayJobs
    Free AI Resume Builder
    • Remote Work

      Best B2B GEO Agencies In 2025

      VP of Growth’s Guide To B2B Demand Generation in 2025

      B2B LinkedIn Social Selling Strategy Guide

      Leveraging an Ideal Customer Profile in B2B Sales – RevenueZen

      Top 18 SEO Myths: Avoid These Traps

    • Remote Teams

      9 Remote 9 Interview Questions Every Interviewer Should Ask

      7 Ways to Build a Resilient Remote Team

      7 Reasons to Plan a Virtual Team Retreat

      7 Signs a Candidate Is a Good Fit for Your Team

      Top Recruiting Tips for Remote Companies

    • Management

      Report: 80% Say Salary Isn’t Keeping Up With Inflation

      Synchronous and Asynchronous Communication for Remote Teams| Remote.co

      Getting to Know Your Virtual Team: 10 Strategies

      10 Tips to Succeed as a Fully Remote Company

      How to Hire Contractors for Your Remote Team

    • Business

      Remote Work Predictions for 2018

      Remote Work: More Than a Perk for Pros with Chronic Conditions

      10 Tips for Running a Remote Business

      Starting a Company? Why You Should Go Remote

      How Remote Work Leads to More Loyal Employees

    • Offshoring

      7 ways an accounts payable BPO can benefit your company

      The complete guide to hiring a virtual phone assistant

      What is an IVR call center? (workflows, benefits, tools)

      The 2024 guide to omnichannel contact centers

      24 virtual assistant websites to find skilled VAs in 2024

    • Productivity

      Build a productivity improvement plan in 9 simple steps

      How employee insights improve workforce productivity

      What it is and how you can avoid it

      5 project time management processes to boost productivity

      Are your remote workers overemployed? Here are the red flags

    • Abroad

      Can You Study Abroad and Intern Abroad at the Same Time? 

      Brett’s Spring Semester in Granada

      Top Global Destinations to See the Magic of Spring Come Alive

      Best Places To Study Abroad this January Term

      Can College Student Athletes Study or Intern Abroad?

    • Job Search

      Job Hopping: Benefits And Disadvantages

      Remote Job Search Tips from Deb Haas

      Andrew Gobran (Doist) on Career Values and Remote Job Search Strategy

      24 Remote Jobs for Pregnant Women To Work-From-Home

      Make Your Remote Job Application Stand Out in 2025

    • Job Board
    FarAwayJobs
    Home » State Department Denies Substantial Percentage of Employer-Sponsored Immigrant Visas
    Job Board

    State Department Denies Substantial Percentage of Employer-Sponsored Immigrant Visas

    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp
    State Department Denies Substantial Percentage of Employer-Sponsored Immigrant Visas
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest WhatsApp

    Surprising data recently revealed that consular officers denied applicants for employer-sponsored immigrant visas at a far higher rate than U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officers denied green cards to employer-sponsored applicants.

    Data analyzed by the Cato Institute shows that since Fiscal Year 2008, USCIS denied about 8% of employer-sponsored immigrants while the average denial rate by consular officers was 63%. The Cato Institute has identified a disturbing difference that disadvantages employer-sponsored immigrants that apply abroad—and which, to our knowledge, has not been raised before. Our analysis of the findings and conclusions follows.

    By “employer-sponsored,” the Cato Institute means the employment-based (EB) second preference category for advanced degree professionals or persons of exceptional ability and the EB third preference category for skilled workers, professionals, or “other workers.”

    In these two categories (unless the noncitizen qualifies for an EB-2 national interest waiver), a noncitizen must have a job offer from a U.S. employer. The sponsoring employer first must have recruited for U.S. workers and received a certification from the Department of Labor (DOL) that employing the noncitizen in the job offered will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly-employed U.S. workers. Next, the sponsoring employer must receive approval from USCIS that the noncitizen is qualified for the employment-based preference category.

    After USCIS’ approval of the employer’s petition, and if the noncitizen is in lawful nonimmigrant status in the United States, among other requirements, they may become a U.S. permanent resident upon USCIS approval of their application to adjust status. Otherwise, the noncitizen must have an immigrant visa issued by a consular officer at a U.S. Embassy or consulate abroad and then be admitted to the United States as a permanent resident.

    For the consular officer denials, the Cato Institute used the numbers for immigrant visa ineligibility as to labor certification in the Department of State Visa Office’s annual reports for Fiscal Years 1992 through 2020—with permanent labor certification only being required for the EB second (without national interest waiver) and third preferences.

    The USCIS numbers the Cato Institute obtained have a broader scope: including any reason for denial and the EB first category (for persons of extraordinary ability, outstanding professors/researchers, and intracompany managers and executives), which has no labor certification requirement. Yet, the consular officer denials still far exceed USCIS denials.

    According to the Cato Institute, consular officer denials “shot up in [Fiscal Year] 1995 and stayed extraordinarily high through the present.” In Fiscal Years 2019 and 2020, consular officers denied 61% of employer-sponsored applicants. Yet in 2021, USCIS denied only 4%.

    As the Cato Institute notes, no explanations are provided for the consular officer denials. A review of the Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM), which contains State Department policies and procedures, suggests the following possibilities. The FAM impresses on the consular officer that they, and not DOL or USCIS, assess the applicant in person and “have the responsibility” to resolve any doubt about whether the applicant has the qualifications for the job. Frequently, the consular officer will be interviewing the applicant years after DOL issued the labor certification. The consular officer may question whether the applicant still intends to work for the sponsoring employer in the job offered, even though the FAM states that the officer should have “objective reasons” to believe the applicant will not comply with the labor certification. The Cato Institute questioned why the FAM would list as a negative factor evidence that the applicant does not have prior work experience in the same type of business as the job offered. As stated in the blog, “The State Department should not be denying people for seeking different types of jobs than their jobs in their home countries.”

    While the disparity in denial rates the Cato Institute identifies is disturbing, the blog makes related claims that are questionable. The Cato Institute claims that the Departments of State, Homeland Security, and Labor “are directly incentivizing employers and immigrants to unnecessarily use the temporary work visa system.” But immigrants are not avoiding consular processing because of low approval rates—the Cato Institute says, “no one has previously reported on it.”

    There are other disincentives to consular processing. The backlogs are enormous. Many immigrant visa applicants must first submit documentation to the U.S.-based National Visa Center—and only when they are “documentarily qualified” will the U.S. Embassy or Consulate schedule an interview. The National Visa Center’s Immigrant Visa Center Backlog Report states that 426,486 eligible immigrant visa applicants (family- and employment-based) are still waiting to have interviews scheduled after June 2022 appointment slots have been filled. Aside from the delay, with the additional risk and expense inherent in traveling abroad, why would noncitizens who are already living in the United States risk the trip?

    The blog also claims this “takes a temporary visa cap spot away from some worker for whom a temporary path makes more sense.” But most employment-based immigrants apply to adjust status to permanent resident in the United States because they are working in the United States in temporary (nonimmigrant) categories Congress has provided. Congress specifically authorized H-1B (specialty occupation) workers—a category that has a “cap” unless an exemption is available—to work temporarily in the United States when they also may intend to become permanent residents. Congress, not the agencies, is responsible for which temporary visa categories are available. Congress, not the agencies, limits the number of immigrant visas available per year, and further limits the percentage per country of birth. Congress has not reconsidered these limits for over thirty years.

    There is no reason why U.S. employers should forego the opportunity to hire qualified noncitizens, and noncitizens forego the opportunity to work in the United States while navigating the green card process.

    FILED UNDER: Department of Labor, USCIS

    Source link

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp

    Related Posts

    Job Board

    Giving Thanks to the Hands That Feed America: Immigrant Farmworkers

    Job Board

    Ahead of Tax Day, Fear of Filing Taxes Rises Among Undocumented Immigrants

    Job Board

    Businesses and Workers Get Win with Permanent Work Permit Extension Rule

    Job Board

    House Reconciliation Bill Would Supercharge Immigrant Detention and Effectively Eliminate Asylum for Most

    Job Board

    H-1B Modernization Rule Provides Some Comfort But Also Raises Concerns

    Job Board

    Texas Dream Act Survives—Because Texans Showed Up

    Job Board

    Department of State Pauses Visa Interview for J, F, and M visitors

    Job Board

    Bring Your Fiancé(e) to the U.S. Legally

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    Stay In Touch
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    Job Board

    E-2 Visa Approved for Canadian Construction Firm

    At Berardi Immigration Law, we are honored to assist entrepreneurs in bringing their business goals…

    AIDE: What Is Your Why?

    Stories from Six Remote Workers

    Apply now to study abroad over spring break or in May

    Top Insights
    Study Abroad

    Summer Study Abroad: Social Justice & Migration in Madrid

    Study Abroad

    India’s Foreign Student Economy: Massive $70 Billion

    Study Abroad

    Ringgit slump burdens M’sians studying abroad

    Study Abroad

    IVCC students, staff study abroad this summer – Shaw Local

    Business

    How to increase retention by understanding your team’s stress levels: A real-life example from Time Doctor

    Most Popular
    Study Abroad

    STUDY ABROAD: UK government orders review of Graduate Immigration Route

    Management

    What Is the average salary in Japan for year 2023 ?

    Study Abroad

    Best and Worst Things About Living in Hong Kong, According to a Local

    Categories
    • Business (61)
    • Job Board (260)
    • Job Search (62)
    • Management (55)
    • Offshoring (57)
    • Productivity (127)
    • Remote Teams (59)
    • Remote Work (271)
    • Study Abroad (1,967)
    Our Picks

    Five Undergraduates Win Awards to Study Abroad

    Study Abroad

    University Students Receive Federal Study Abroad Scholarship

    Study Abroad

    Can I Study Abroad and Still Graduate from College on Time?

    Study Abroad
    FarAwayJobs
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest
    • Home
    • Job Board
    • About Us
    • Contact us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions
    © 2025 FarAwayJobs.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.