Just days before the end of his term, the administration of US President Donald Trump changed his H-1B visa regime again, giving priority to higher salaries and skills over the predominant lottery system for selecting candidates to work in the country. .
The new rules, in effect for 60 days after publication in the Federal Register on January 8, will most likely cover H-1B applicants. The next H1B visa application season will start on April 1.
Under the amended rules, H-1B ceiling visas would be allocated to those earning the highest salaries in their respective occupations and geographical areas of employment. Visas would first be granted to people sponsored by US companies at level 4, which is the largest of the four salary categories and covers highly experienced workers.
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Follow the ones from level 3 and so on, until you reach the annual quota of 85,000. Until now, the selection of H-1B work visas was done through a random lottery system, which did not take into account salary, experience or any selection factors.
Indians are the largest number of H-1B visa recipients in the United States. The new rule could make it more difficult to hire international workers and have a significant impact on Indians aspiring to work in the country.
The Government of India has stated that it is engaged in talks with the US for increased predictability in the visa regime and to minimize inconvenience to Indian citizens in the US.
The H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows American companies to hire foreign workers in specialized professions that require theoretical or technical expertise. US technology companies depend on this visa category to employ millions of employees in India and China every year.
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The technology giants oppose the movement
Constant changes to the H-1B visa regime have opposed the leaders of technology giants such as Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Twitter. Even though Indian firms have gradually ceased to depend on these work permits, many technology giant corporations are still looking to hire from the H-1B group of workers.
H-1B visas are generally approved for three years, after which beneficiaries often change employers and continue to work for other US companies. In 2018-19, Google, Facebook and Apple hired more than 13,000 highly skilled IT workers with H1B visas, either directly or from existing visa holders who want to change jobs to stay, according to the Department. US labor.
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