Despite much opposition, President Donald Trump since he signed the executive order last January to curb immigration and continues to move forward with the travel ban.
These orders and initiatives have certainly added challenges to the current immigration system and complicated employment matters even more. Fortunately, tech founders are finding ways to bring solutions to the immigration issue and tackling it head on.
Immigration Services
Some have found opportunities to create new online services to cater to visa applicants. Companies like Shop Immigration are now bringing tech to immigration services. This platforms provide a consolidated interface for users to have their visa applications processed. The platform allows applicants to submit their documents online, which are then matched with immigration specialists and lawyers to help them with their concerns.
“Our business model is based on a hybrid (technology + attorneys). This leads our customers to save time and reduce the cost of legal fees. Do it yourself and use attorney where needed,” said Liran Rosenfeld, the CEO of Shop Immigration.
Other initiatives, like StartupVisa have emerged to help startup founders obtain permanent residency permission in the United States.
Indeed, these new services should be welcoming options for visa applicants who face the new uncertainty in Trump’s America.
Tech Giants Are Getting Involved Too
This isn’t the only way tech is approaching immigration. The industry has been very open against Trump’s policies. Nearly 100 companies joined a legal move against Trump’s original executive order. While tech prides itself in championing diversity as an industry, it also relies on immigrants to fill key positions.
The big tech players have taken a more forceful route to address the immigration issue. Google, Facebook, and Microsoft have all spent lobbying dollars to go against Trump’s immigration reforms. These companies argue that their ability to hire foreign talent is crucial for their success and Trump’s policies would severely hamper that.
As global competition for innovation ramps up, US tech companies are augmenting their workforce with qualified talent and a key way they do this is through workers hired through H-1B visas. These major companies account for thousands of applications that vie for the 85,000 H-1B visas made available yearly.
Read more about diversity initiatives at Tech.Co
