MUMBAI: US Citizenship and Immigration Services ( USCIS ) director L Francis Cissna has said he would be happy if American law prohibited the replacement of an American by an H-1B visa holder.

"I would really love it if Congress would pass a provision prohibiting American workers being replaced by H-1B workers. I could draft it myself, probably right now, you know?" Cissna said in response to a recent query.

Any immigration attorney will tell you it's getting tougher to obtain an H-1B visa or an extension of the visa. Extreme vetting of applications and a higher rejection rate are now the norm. For visa applications (including for extensions) made after September 11, USCIS officials also have the power to reject outright applications in certain circumstances, such as when required evidence is not submitted at the first instance.

Cissna's remarks came at an "Immigration Newsmaker" event organised in Washington, DC, on August 15 by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), a think tank with a purported anti-immigration stance. A transcript of the event was recently made public on the CIS website. Cissna's statement sent ripples across the Indian diaspora.

According to a USCIS report, during fiscal 2017, 75.6% of the total 3.65 lakh applicants granted H-1B visas, including for continued employment, were born in India.

Cissna said immigration reform should be directed towards ensuring the most qualified people, who the US needs, should get the visas.

"A simple fix, for example, just banning the ability of employers to fire American workers and replace them with H-1Bs," he said

In fact, this process has already begun. The past few years have seen a spike in requests for evidence (RFEs) by USCIS officials during processing of H-1B applications. Most queries relate to wages, and whether or not the job description fits that of a specialty occupation.

TOI reported on June 18 about a lawsuit filed by the American Immigration Lawyers Association seeking documents that would explain the increasing number of RFEs followed by an increase in rejection of these applications. A report by the National Foundation for American Policy stated H-1B visa denials increased 41% from the third to fourth quarter of fiscal 2017 , which is attributed to US President Donald Trump's "Buy American, Hire American" executive order. Indian applicants received the maximum number of RFEs and rejections. For instance, RFEs in the fourth quarter of 2017 received by Indians was 72.4% as against 61.2% for other countries. Similarly, the rate of rejection was 23.6% as against 19.6% for other countries.

