The Garden State Immigration Policy Institute is hosting an online event exploring the future of the H-1B visa program, which provides businesses with highly skilled foreign-born employees who work primarily in tech services, consulting, finance, and STEM-related research.
The free March 24 webinar will feature opening remarks by Julie Gelatt, Associate Director of the Immigration Policy Program at the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., followed by two panel discussions on recent changes to the program and suggestions for the future.
Foreign-born H-1B visa holders temporarily fill labor shortages in industries where there are not enough qualified US-born workers to fill open positions. Any employer seeking to hire a foreign worker through the H-1B visa program must show it will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers.
Recent changes made to the H-1B program have impacted smaller businesses by raising the petition fee employers pay to $100,000 per applicant. Another change replaced the random lottery selection process with wage-based selection criteria that gives priority to more highly compensated applicants, who, because of their higher salaries, are more likely going to be working for larger corporations.
Go here to register for “The Future of H‑1B: Securing NJ’s High‑Skilled Workforce,” which will be held from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 24.
Other speakers and panelists participating in the program include:
- Britta Glennon, Assistant Professor of Management, Wharton School of Business
- Neha Mahajan, Board of Directors of the Asian Indian Chamber of Commerce
- Patrick W. McGovern, Esq., Partner, Genova Burns, who specializes in immigration and employment law
- Kathleen Naasz, Executive Director, Center for Student Entrepreneurship, New Jersey Institute of Technology
- Patrick Shen, Vice President of Immigration Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
- Zuzana Čeplá Wootson, Deputy Director, Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, a coalition of 570 college and university presidents and chancellors dedicated to advancing just immigration policies
- Eric Yun, Esq., Partner, Archer & Greiner, P.C., and chair of the law firm’s Immigration and Global Mobility Practice.
Althea D. Ford, NJBIA Vice President of Government Affairs, and Kyle Sullender, Director of Government and External Relations at the Healthcare Institute of New Jersey, will also participate. Both Ford and Sullender are members of the Board of Trustees of the New Jersey Business Immigration Coalition.
The Garden State Immigration Policy Institute is a joint initiative of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association (NJBIA) and the New Jersey Business Immigration Coalition.
