重磅：H-1B抽签时代终结！美国工作签证迎来“价高者得”时代

“价高者得”时代

一项看似技术性的移民新规，正悄然撼动全球高技能人才赴美留学与就业的版图。

特朗普政府向白宫监管部门提交拟议草案，计划将H-1B签证从“随机抽签”转变为“工资加权优先”。这意味着，年薪越高，越容易中签；刚毕业、薪资尚低的留学生群体或将被排除在外。印度受影响最大，中国申请人同样面临重大不确定性。本文将带你逐句精读原文，拆解政策背后的移民逻辑、劳动力趋势与语言考试的应对方向。👇

特朗普政府正在制定一项新规，以创建一个与工资挂钩的H-1B配额签证“加权选择流程”。权重可能会根据提供给外国受益人的工资高低来分配（即由美国雇主为其申请H-1B签证的个人）。

The Trump administration is working on a new rule to create a ‘weighted selection process’ for H-1B cap visas. Weights are likely to be assigned, based on the salary offered to the foreign beneficiary (individual who is being sponsored for the H-1B visa by an American employer).

be working on：表示正在进行中的动作。
weighted selection process：加权选择流程，常用于统计或抽签程序，意指不同因素权重影响结果。
beneficiary [n.]：受益人；法律或移民文中常用于指申请人。

这早已有迹可循，如今变得更加清晰。最近，美国国土安全部（DHS）向白宫的规则审查机构信息和监管事务办公室（OIRA）提交了一项拟议规则。

The writing was on the wall. Now it is much clearer. Recently, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) submitted a proposed rule to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), which is the White House office that reviews rules.

The writing was on the wall：惯用语，意指某事早有预兆。
proposed rule：拟议规则，通常指尚未通过的政策草案。
submit... to...：向……提交（正式用语）。

规则在审查后将被发布在《联邦公报》上，从而启动最终规则的实施程序。该过程可能需要几个月，因为它还包括公开征求意见并进行审阅的阶段。

Post its review, the rule will be published in the Federal Register kicking off the process of implementation of a final rule. The process could take several months as it also involves keeping a window open for inviting public comments and reviewing.

Federal Register：美国联邦政府的官方期刊，发布法规和行政令。
kick off：非正式用法，表示“开始”。
a window open：比喻用于某一行为的“时间窗口”。

“但他们动作很快，所以这可能会在年内完成，”前DHS官员Doug Rand说。

“But they are moving fast, so that could happen within the calendar year,” said Doug Rand, a former DHS official.

calendar year：公历年（即1月1日至12月31日），区别于财政年等。

值得回顾的是，2021年1月初，在拜登政府即将上任的几天前，原本随机抽签的H-1B配额签证流程被一项最终规则替换为工资优先流程。

It may be recalled that in early January 2021, with just a few days left for the Biden administration to take charge, the annual H-1B cap lottery process (which was a random selection process) was replaced with a wage-based selection process vide a final rule.

vide：法律用语，意为“根据”，较正式。
take charge：上任，接手管理。

根据这一规则，H-1B签证按工资水平分配，优先给予在其职业和就业地区中工资最高的人。

Under this, H-1B cap visas were to be allocated according to wage levels, giving priority to those earning the highest salaries in their respective occupations and geographic areas of employment.

allocate... according to...：按照……分配。
respective：各自的，分别的。

实际上，H-1B签证首先会授予工资等级为第4级（最高级，通常为经验丰富的员工）的受益人，然后依次到第3级，直到年度8.5万个配额发完为止。该规则被拜登政府冻结，并被法院废止。

In effect, the H-1B cap visas were to be awarded first to beneficiaries in Level 4 (which is the highest of the four wage categories and covers very experienced workers), then to those at Level 3, and so on, until the annual quota of 85,000 has been met.

in effect：事实上，相当于“实际上”。
annual quota：年度配额

该规则被拜登政府冻结，并被法院废止。

This rule was frozen by the Biden administration and subsequently vacated by a court order.

subsequently ：后续，接下来
vacate [v.]：法律上撤销，取消。

特朗普政府如今重新提出的方案可能类似。Rand指出：“当美国国会1990年设立H-1B项目时，许多今天的职业尚不存在。美国企业每年最多只能获得8.5万个H-1B名额，但需求却是4到5倍。”

The revived proposal by the Trump administration could be similar. Rand points out, “When the US Congress established the H-1B program in 1990 as a temporary work visa for professionals in ‘specialty occupations’, many of today’s occupations didn’t exist. American businesses get no more than 85,000 new H-1B cap slots each year; but the demand is 4-5 times higher.”

revive [v.]：恢复，重新提出。
slots：配额名额，尤其用于签证、大学录取等上下文。

印度人是H-1B签证的主要受益人。在截至2023年9月的财年中，他们获得了68,825份初次雇佣签证，占比58%，以及210,000份延期，占比79%，远远超过排名第二的中国，后者仅分别获得16,094和29,250份。

Indians are major H-1B beneficiaries. For the fiscal ended September 2023, they accounted for 68,825 (58%) of initial employment visas and 2.10 lakh (79%) of extensions, far outpacing China, the second-largest source, with significantly lower allotments of 16,094 and 29,250, respectively.

lakh：印度用法，10万。

因此，任何变动都会严重影响希望赴美工作的印度人。

Thus, any change will significantly impact Indians aspiring to work in the US.

aspire to：渴望、希望从事

Rand表示，长期雇主（如跨国公司、初创企业、小型企业和社区医院）与短期雇主（可能包括一些不良中介公司）是有区别的。

Rand states that there is a difference between long-term employers (such as MNCs, thousands of startups, small business and community hospitals) and the short-term employers – which could include a handful of unscrupulous staffing companies.

a handful of：少数的，一些。
unscrupulous [adj.]：无良的，不道德的。
staffing company：人力派遣公司。

“特朗普政府无视这一区别，即将（重新）尝试对H-1B抽签流程进行重大变更。一开始听起来似乎合理，把稀缺的H-1B签证分配给每个职业中薪资最高的人。但在实际操作中，这将是灾难性的。”

“Heedless of this distinction, the Trump administration is about to (re)attempt a major change to the H-1B lottery. It sounds reasonable at first to allocate scarce H-1Bs to the highest-paid workers in each occupation. But, this would be disastrous in practice.”

heedless of：无视，不顾。
scarce [adj.]：稀缺的。

“没错，这也许会迫使短期雇主要么提高工资，要么退出市场。但长期雇主通常雇佣的是职业初期的研究人员、工程师、医生以及其他专业人士，往往刚从美国研究生院毕业。

“Sure, it might force the short-term H-1B employers to either pay their workers more or get out of the business. But the long-term H-1B employers typically hire early-career researchers, engineers, doctors, and other professionals, often fresh out of US graduate school.

early-career：职业生涯早期的。
fresh out of：刚从……毕业。

They may be well-compensated, but they wouldn’t hit the top quartile, so they would be effectively frozen out of the lottery selection process,” explains Rand.

“他们可能待遇不错，但未必能进入收入最高的四分之一，因此在抽签中会被排除在外。”

quartile [n.]：四分位数，统计术语。

教育专家指出，国际学生在完成选择性实习培训（STEM学生可达三年）后转向H-1B签证，通常是从入门级岗位开始。更高的工资门槛将使公司更难雇佣他们。

Education experts point out that typically international students transitioning to H-1B visas after completing their optional practical training (which is three years for STEM students) are hired at entry levels. Higher wages will make it difficult for companies to hire them.