Refuting H-1B Visa Misconceptions

Let’s clean up some misconceptions about the H-1B visa.

Recently, the visa “people who wish to perform services in a specialty occupation, services of exceptional merit and ability” according to USCIS took a public beating. Republicans that voted from an America First posture are suspicious of all immigration, legal and illegal, while those from the tech sector argued for the importance of the H-1B visa to bring in talented workers from around the world.

Those critical of the primary spokespeople for the tech position—Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy—repeated many of the charges against the H-1B, talking about it as if it’s primarily a visa to bring in programmers and get them to work at a reduced rate.

Much of that isn’t true. The arguments are

1. It’s used to hire programmers for Silicon Valley.
2. It’s a way to get talented workers and pay them less.
3. It’s taking jobs from Americans.

A 2024 study by the National Foundation for American Policy examined some of these charges, and their findings refute them pretty clearly. Let’s handle them in order.

1. That charge is literally only half-right. Yes, 51.7 percent of H-1B visas went to science and technology hires in fiscal year 2023, but 14.3 percent were for educational services hirings, 7.4 percent were for manufacturing, 6.9 percent went to health care and social assistance, and 6 percent went for information. Half the H-1B visas when to programers and the like.

One thing the H-1B is often used for is to help staff schools and medical centers in remote locations that have a hard time attracting qualified domestic talent. 

2. The H-1B visa application is filed by the employer, not the potential employee, and many outside the system assume that the employers treat the visa as part of the employee’s compensation. That might be the case, but it doesn’t translate to talent in the U.S. on H-1B visas being paid less. In 2023, the median salary for computer programmers was $97,000 and the average annual wage was $107,750 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In 2022, the median salary for H-1B recipients working in computer-related occupations was $123,000 and the average salary was $129,000, both higher than the median and average wages for the field.

3. Were American programmers boxed out of jobs by the H-1B recipients hired to work in the field? Not likely. Unemployment in that sector was 2.3 percent in January 2024. Pre-pandemic in 2020, the unemployment rate was 3 percent. In the U.S., 5 percent unemployment is considered full employment. 

A recent study by the American Immigration Council observed that instead of somehow being a drag on wages and employment, the H-1B visa recipients are good for the labor market. “The economic contributions of H-1B workers in particular may increase the employment opportunities available to native-born workers in the United States,” the study states. “That is why unemployment rates are relatively low in occupations that employ large numbers of H-1B workers.”

Unfortunately, the truth has had a hard getting heard in recent years, particularly where immigration is concerned. One thing we can do is try to get good information out when we can and do our part to clean up the conversation.

The H-1B visa lottery starts in March 2025. If you don’t know how it works, see our H-1B visa lottery explainer. We’re watching our inboxes because USCIS has announced that on January 17, it will publish a revised version of the application form to bring it in line with rule changes announced December 17, 2024.

Photo by Kaitlyn Baker on Unsplash.