By Elton Gomes
In a major setback to thousands of Indians working in the US, the Trump administration is firmly on the path to disallow spouses of H1-B visa holders from legally working in the US, as per media reports.
The spouses of H1-B visas were allowed to work at a job under the H4-EAD visa, and a large number of these highly skilled professionals are from India. If the Trump administration decides to revoke the H4 visas, approximately 70,000 H4 visa holders stand the risk of losing their work permits in America.
According to media sources, spouses of H1-B workers are “shaken” and “disappointed” by the recent turn of events.
Here’s what happened
Towards the end of 2017, US President Donald Trump decided on a stricter H1-B visa. The US government, in December 2017, planned to repeal the Obama-era legislation that allowed spouses of H1-B visa holders to work in America.
US Department of Home land Security (DHS) intends to do away with the Obama-era rule, however, details of the changes have not yet been specified. The DHS also said that is planning to implement changes to the H1-B visa programme, and that it may revise the programme’s eligibility. In a statement, the DHS said that this was being done to “increase focus on truly obtaining the best and brightest foreign nationals.”
In February 2018, the Chicago Tribune reported that the Trump administration could revoke the H4 visas by the end of that month, causing a massive uproar. However, in March 2018, a report in CNN mentioned that the move to repeal the H4 visas was delayed.
According to the report, the DHS stated that “significant revisions to the draft proposal were necessary.” These revisions required more analysis that would take up several weeks of time, thereby delaying the move.
In the past year, several media outlets reported that the H1-B visa was a significant cause of concern and enormous uncertainty prevails over attempts to repeal the visa.
Current status of H4 visas
No official statement regarding the repeal of H4 visas has been released by the DHS. However, Francis Cissna, director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), wrote to Charles Grassley, chairman of the judiciary committee of the Congress.
In his letter, Cissna said, “…our plans include proposing regulatory changes to remove H-4 dependent spouses from the class of aliens eligible for employment authorisation, thereby reversing the 2015 final rule that granted such eligibility.”
What this means is that the Trump administration is strongly advocating that the H4 visas be repealed.
Why you should care
According to the New York Times, more than 80 percent of the recipients for H1-B visas are from India. If the H4 visas are repealed, more than 60,000 individuals might lose their jobs in the US.
FWD.US, a Silicon Valley-based company told India Today, “This policy (the H4 visa) is important because it allows certain individuals to secure gainful employment without having to wait for their spouses to receive permanent residency, many of whom are experiencing a processing backlog of more than a decade.”
Supporters of the visa programme have said that it fills up the “critical need for talent” that is unavailable in America. ALL H4 visa holders and their H1B visa holding spouses await the Trump administration’s official statement about the status of the visa.
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