Biden Administration Updates Visa Programs for STEM Workers

The Biden administration made a series of visa program updates last month aiming to make it easier for U.S. employers to hire and retain foreign STEM workers and students. The changes affect the J-1, H-1B, and F-1 visa programs.

The State Department recently made it easier for some J-1 visa holders to remain in the U.S. by reducing the number of countries on the Exchange Visitor Skills List. The change means that J-1 visa holders from the removed countries are no longer required to return to their country of origin for two years before applying for another type of U.S. visa — making it easier for U.S. employers to retain talent from these countries. The J-1 visa covers work and study exchange programs in the U.S.

The list aims to benefit foreign relations by reducing brain drain to the U.S. from countries with skill shortages. The updated list used a new methodology to determine which countries should be included, removing dozens of countries as a result, including China and India. Approximately 300,000 foreign visitors from 200 countries are granted J-1 visas annually.

The Department of Homeland Security published a final rule on Dec. 18 that attempts to modernize the H-1B visa program. H-1B is a temporary visa for skilled foreign workers in specialized occupations.

DHS said in a press release that the changes — which include a more “streamlined” approvals process for the H-1B program — will significantly enhance U.S. companies’ ability to fill job vacancies in critical fields. The changes build on a previous final rule, published in January 2024, to improve the H-1B registration and selection process.

“The H-1B program was created by Congress in 1990, and there’s no question it needed to be modernized to support our nation’s growing economy,” said Ur Jaddou, director of U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services in the press release. Jaddou said the changes will ensure employers can hire the workers they need to grow while “enhancing the integrity of the program.” The final rule codifies USCIS’ authority to conduct inspections and impose penalties on employers that provide inaccurate information. 

Updates to the H-1B program, which will become effective Jan. 17, expand the types of nonprofit and governmental organizations that can be exempted from annual caps on hiring H-1B workers. Previously, only nonprofit and governmental research organizations whose “primary mission” is research were exempt from the cap, but the new rule loosens this standard so that such organizations can qualify if research is one of their “fundamental activities.” 

The final rule also includes new language requiring H-1B visa applicants to hold degrees “directly related” to the job they want to perform. Some organizations, including the American Physical Society, petitioned DHS to drop that language out of concern that it could exclude people from jobs that are highly relevant to their degree but are not titled accordingly. In a public comment, APS suggested that a USCIS examiner might not realize that a physics background could be relevant for an H-1B position titled “climate scientist” or “optical engineer.” (APS is an AIP Member Society.)

DHS declined to drop the “directly related” language but clarified that they will look for a “logical connection” between the degree an applicant holds and the job duties they would perform. “These changes recognize that the title of the degree alone is not determinative and that degree titles may differ among schools and evolve over time,” DHS wrote in the preamble to its final rule.

The updated H-1B visa process also gives F-1 student visa holders applying for an H-1B visa more flexibility to stay in the U.S. while their application is being processed, codifying the automatic “cap-gap” extension so that F-1 visa holders can avoid lapses in immigration status while waiting to hear back about their H-1B petition.

How the incoming Trump administration will approach visa programs for skilled STEM workers remains unclear. While some high-profile conservatives have been vocal in their opposition to the U.S. hiring more foreign talent, some of Trump’s closest advisers, notably Elon Musk and David Sacks, have expressed support for reforming and expanding the H-1B program to make it easier for U.S. companies to hire more foreign tech workers.