Some Democrats in the Senate are considering an overhaul to the nation’s rules when it comes to hiring foreign workers for “specialty occupations,” including some occupations in the healthcare field.
The proposal from Sens. Harry Reid (D-NV), Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) would make the rules governing H-1B and L-1 visa programs more stringent, according to a report from eweek.com. Under the possible rule change, the number of H-1B and L-1 workers certain companies can hire would be restricted. The H-1B program had a more-than 20% violation rate in 2008, according to a recent study, eweek.com reported.
The proposal—which is still in an informal stage—also would allow the Department of Labor to investigate applications for fraud, conduct H-1B compliance audits, conduct annual audits of companies with large numbers of H-1B workers and initiate H-1B employer application investigations.
H-1B specialty workers are classified as any worker who needs a degree or specialized training specific to the industry, and can include nurses and physicians hired by healthcare providers from foreign countries. L-1 visas typically cover executive or professional transfers to the U.S, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
