The newly elected Biden government in the US is all set to reverse some of the policies of the outgoing Trump government, including those related to H1B visas. This comes as a pleasant news to tens of thousands of semi and highly skilled Indians who are currently working or planning to work in future in the USA.
What is an H1B visa?
H1B is a visa in the USA that allows the country’s employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in occupations requiring employees with high level of skills and specialized knowledge. The visa allows a stay of 3 years, extendable by 3 more, after which the visa holder may need to reapply.
Earlier policies
In 2017, former President Trump had signed an executive order that directed federal agencies to implement a “Buy American, Hire American” strategy. This year in June, he had temporarily suspended the H-1B visas along with other types of foreign work visas until the end of the year to protect American workers from unemployment aggravated by Covid-19 pandemic. Some more restrictions were announced in October this year.
The immigration restrictions had an adverse impact on thousands of Indian IT professionals, especially when a large number of Indians on the H-1B visas had already lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic that severely hit the US economy. Any change in the H1B policies affects Indians more than anyone else as Indians account for about 70% of the 85,000 H-1B visas issued by the USA annually, according to immigration data.
The technology companies also depend on the visa to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.
Indians account for about 70% of the 85,000 H-1B visas issued by the USA annually, according to immigration data.
Why is H1B so controversial?
H1B has been a controversial topic for a long time. It is said that the H1B program is used primarily as a source of cheap labor in the US as an employee on the visa earns $25,000 less than a US worker on an average and thus provides a tough competition to the native workforce. The program is seen as a way by which foreigners are taking away jobs from the workers of the country.
Biden government’s stance on H1B
“High skilled temporary visas should not be used to disincentivize recruiting workers already in the US for in-demand occupations. An immigration system that crowds out high-skilled workers in favor of only entry level wages and skills threatens American innovation and competitiveness,” said a policy document issued by the Biden campaign
According to the policy document, Biden will also exempt from any cap recent graduates of PhD programmes in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields in the US who are poised to make some of the most important contributions to the world economy.
“Biden believes that foreign graduates of a US doctoral programme should be given a green card with their degree and that losing these highly trained workers to foreign economies is a disservice to our own economic competitiveness,” it said.
Significance of the announcements
The new policies on immigration will provide the US with more highly skilled labor that can help revive its economy which was severely hit by the pandemic. They also have the potential to improve the country’s relations with other countries, especially India, as well as improve the country’s standing in the international community.
