H -1B Visa Program Analysis

Context: Employers in the United States can hire foreign workers with specialized skills on a nonimmigrant work visa for a specified period of time. This type of visa is called H-1B. According to the US Department of Labor, the intent of the H-1B provisions is to help employers who cannot otherwise obtain needed business skills and abilities from the U.S. workforce by authorizing the temporary employment of qualified individuals who are not otherwise authorized to work in the United States.The consolidated data set contains 10 fiscal years of H -1B applications filed, approved and denied from 2013 to 2023.

Data Source: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (UCIS): https://www.uscis.gov/tools/reports-and-studies/h-1b-employer-data-hub/understanding-our-h-1b-employer-data-hub

Approach: The UCIS data files are per fiscal year, so after importing the 10 files they were consolidated with the append option in the query editor. Also, a table was created based on NAICS code sector and desciption for easier understanding. This analysis aims to answer whether the FY 2023 pattern repeats, and which states, cities, employers, and sectors provide most of those applicants.

To do so, the first step after consolidating the data is to create 7 total measures: Initial Approval, Initial Denial, Continuing Approval, Continuing Denial, Total Approval, Total Denial and Total Filed which is the sum of all applications filed (denied or aproved).From there, 5 proportions measures were created: Initial Approval/Total Approval, Continuing Approval/Total Approval, Initial Denial/Total Denial, Continuing Denial/Total Denial and Total Approval/Total Filed. To complement the analysis, 2 variations measured were created which showed the yearly variation regarding the applications filed and the approval rate.

Also, to keep complementaring the analysis 2 addditional proportions measures were created to show the distribution accros cities for applications field and approved.In the consolidated table a new column is created to group the years 2013 to 2022 and 2023 so that the analysis can be done in those blocks of fiscal years. As the graphs are going to be swithcing between those time blocks, 3 measures were created to always highlight the top value in the bar graph with a blue tone.

With the exception of the state map, were the measure was created to highlight in the map the top 5 states. Regarding the visualization, an slide-based presentation was created in which a brief analysis is presented in each slide.

Conclusions: There has been an increasing tendency of the number of H-1B visa applications and the approval rate has fluctuated over the years, with the lowest rate achieved in FY 2018 at 84.5% and a significant increase in FY 2020, reaching a 97.2% approval rate. In spite of the fact that denial rates have been below 5% in the past three years, applicants should fully understand the eligibility criteria and documentation requirements before applying. Because as Kodem Law (n.d.) mentiones, the reasons for denial could vary, such as failure to meet the requirements, insufficient evidence, or violation of immigration regulations.

California appears to be the most desired state among H-1B applicants, other top states include Texas, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia. The leading company with the most approved applications overall is Cognizant Technology Solutions followed by Tata Consultancy Services. In order to increase their chances of getting approved, H-1B applicants should locate employment opportunities in states and cities with a high approval rate and abundant work opportunities in their field. California's technology hubs provide a promising job market for STEM professionals.

The Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services sector is the largest applicant cluster, with the most approved applications. Manufacturing, Finance & Insurance, and Information sectors also show substantial numbers of approved applications. AProfessional, Scientific, and Technical Services is the largest applicant cluster, and it is expected to continue growing, which makes STEM professionals an essential part of economic growth and innovation. Additionally, the manufacturing sector's immediate need for skilled workers indicates the importance of targeted workforce development programs and efforts to bridge the skills gap.

Ultimately, the H-1B visa program attracts skilled workers to the United States, helping various industries and communities.