A few days ago, reports were doing the rounds that US government may tighten H1-B visa rules that could result in deportation of 7, 50,000 Indians. However, as per the latest announcement made by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the Trump administration is not proposing any such plan.
A USCIS official stated that US is not considering any regulatory change that would force H1-B visa holders to leave US. Also, even if the authorities were planning any such change, it would not have led to the deportation of visa holders as they could request for extensions in 1-year increments under section 106(a)-(b) of AC21.
John Withington, Chief of Media Relations at the USCIS, said that the agency is certainly considering making a number of changes in the policy and regulatory alterations. This would facilitate to carry out the President’s “Buy American, Hire American” Executive Order that includes reviewing the employment-based visa programs.
There is a Congressional mandate that rests with USCIS to issue 65,000 H1-B visas for people in general category and another 20,000 for applicants pursuing higher education (masters and above), from US universities in fields like science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
The H1-B program aims to provide temporary US visas so as to allow companies to hire highly skilled professionals. Since last January, US President Donald Trump has been on and off about making changes in the visa program which was perceived as a threat to the future of other foreign nationals, especially Indian techies who have been residing in US on visa.
