H1-B Visas for Accounting

I usually only hear about H1-B visas for engineers.  I saw an article recently [1] saying some people are trying to get accounting designated a STEM field (Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics) in order to increase the number of H1-B visas available for accountants.  Well, that was a surprise to me.  As an engineer I did not know accountants were being brought into the country on H1-B visas.  This website says Ernst & Young brought in 1,564 accountants into the U.S. on H1-B visas in 2016.

On the positive side, if you have family or friends in another country who want to come to America, then an accounting H1-B visa is an option.  On the negative side, if your child is studying accounting, then your child will be competing for an accounting job against people from all over the world.

Also, it turns out that H1-B visas are available for lawyers.  This website says that  Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom brought in 34 lawyers in 2016 on H1-B visas.  Here is a nice report on all the professional  H1-B visas in 2016.  The top five on the list all all for programmers of different sorts, and the total 2016 visas for computer people totaled 379,440.  That is the population of a small city.

The world is getting more competitive all the time.

Robert

[1]  Accountants Jump Into the Immigration Debate by Michael Rapoport, Wall Street Journal, June 7, 2016, page B14.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/accountants-jump-into-the-immigration-debate-1496750400
Since websites are unstable, here are screen shots of the websites I referenced. Click on the images and they will enlarge.
Accounting H1-B

Lawyers H1-B

Top 10 H1-B, Computers are the top 5