H-1B visa: What happened on immigration in US this week?

There has never been a dull moment on the hot-button issue of immigration in the US. The last few days of the Trump administration are no exception.

Outgoing President Donald Trump, it seems, is looking to put in place as many immigration rules as possible before Joe Biden takes charge on January 20, 2021.

After extending the ban on skilled work visas like H-1B till March 2021 last week, the administration published the final rule that ended the H-1B lottery process on January 8.

All these will have an impact on Indian H-1B visa holders and aspirants, including students, given that they are one of the biggest beneficiaries of the visa.

A look at the two developments over the last week.

January 8, 2021

The Department of Homeland Security published its final rule that ended the H-1B lottery for the selection of petitions and replaced it with a wage-based one. According to the agency, the change was a bid to protect American jobs and keep a check on H-1B abuse by employers.

Every year the US issues 85,000 H-1B visas.

This is a significant move that can have a bearing on the job prospects of fresh graduates and those with a couple of years of experience, many of whom are Indians. There are about 2 lakh Indian students in the US, one of the largest groups of foreign students.

In wage-based selection, employees, mostly senior executives that have higher salaries, have better chances of getting their petitions selected. This will leave out freshers whose salaries will not make them eligible for petitions.

Of course, as immigration experts say the chances of the rule getting implemented is dim as the new government can delay rules that are not in effect by January 20, the day the new president is sworn in. The final rule on the H-1B wage-based selection process will come into effect only on March 9, 2021.

Also, it can be challenged in courts, which has been the case with the previous two changes. H-1B wage hikes and tightening of H-1B rules were blocked by US courts.

January 9, 2021

President-elect Joe Biden said that immigration reforms would be one of the key focus areas of his government. In a recent media interaction, Biden said he would introduce an immigration bill immediately after taking office.

This could include reversing many of Trump’s executive orders and policies that have hit skilled immigrant workers. This could include the June 22 order that banned the entry of workers holding H-1B, L-1 and J-1 visas. Indians are one of the largest beneficiaries of these visas and the ban hit them and companies that employed them.

This was also one of his election promises.

Biden also promised “reforming the temporary visa system for high-skill, specialty jobs to protect wages and workers, then expanding the number of visas offered and eliminating the limits on employment-based green cards by country, which have kept so many Indian families in waiting for too long.”

What do these developments mean for Indians? 

Despite the Trump administration's attempt to toughen H-1B visa programme, Biden's comments indicate that the adverse effects of these rules are likely to be short-lived. It remains to be seen how many promises can Biden deliver at a time when the country is highly polarised.