The US Government Changed H-1B Visa Rules; Here's What it Means for Tech

U.S. immigration authorities suspended a program last Friday that expedited visas for skilled workers — a darling class of workers in the tech community.

Despite stoking tension in tech companies, it's a relatively routine decision that's happened under past administrations. But it is missing one key piece of information — a timeline— and that could affect businesses, CNBC reported.

"Premium processing" of H-1B visas, which allowed skilled workers to pay extra to request faster approval to work in the U.S., will no longer be available starting April 3, immigration authorities announced.

That basically means all applicants will have to wait the standard period to see if they have won the "lottery," without the option to pay an extra $1,225 filing fee for guaranteed answer after 15 days. 

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