Google anticipates that new guidance on H-1B visas will not affect its own employees, according to an email obtained by Recode.
"Wanted to quickly weigh in on behalf of the immigration team to let you all know that we're following this and for now, don't anticipate an impact to Googlers," says the email to Google staff from an employee in human resources. "Our software engineering roles don't fall into the job categories included in the USCIS's [United States Citizenship and Immigration Services] new guidance. We'll continue to watch the H-1B visa space closely and keep Googlers updated on any changes they need to be aware of."
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The Department of Homeland Security and Justice Department are promising greater scrutiny of the H-1B visa program, through which many foreign engineers are hired as high-skilled labor. President Donald Trump's stricter approach to immigration has already raised concerns with Silicon Valley companies that rely on immigrant talent to fill key roles.
When the new administration called for a ban on entry to immigrants from several majority-Muslim countries, at least one Google employee found herself temporarily stranded outside the country. Product manager Soufi Esmaeilzadeh, an Iran-born Canadian citizen who now resides in the U.S., was on a business trip to Switzerland when the first version of Trump's travel ban went into effect.
—By Tess Townsend, Re/code.net.
CNBC's parent NBCUniversal is an investor in Recode's parent Vox, and the companies have a content-sharing arrangement.