Last month, I wrote about the Trump administration’s reported plan to change the H-1B visa lottery system and how it could benefit tech companies, particularly in Seattle and San Francisco. On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security officially released a plan to do just that.
As predicted, the proposed change is likely to benefit petitioners holding a master’s degree or higher. In fact, USCIS says that the change could increase the number of H-1B holders with advanced degrees as much as 16%, according to CNN.
The reason this is seen as a boon to tech companies is that they’re more likely to hire advanced degree holders than are technology staffing companies, which have gained notoriety by flooding the lottery with dubious petitions. In fact, the proposed change is viewed by some as an attempt to prevent this practice.
