The United States has blocked H1-B and certain other non-immigrant work visas until the end of the year. Popular work visas such as H-1B and H-2B, and others such as H-4, J, and L visas shall also remain suspended until December 31, the White House said in a press note. President, Donald Trump said that this was decision made to protect domestic workers whose livelihoods have been impacted due to the global pandemic.
Here are 5 Things you need to know about USA’s suspension Of H1-B Visa:
1. What is US President Trump’s executive order?
- US President Donald Trump extended the pause on new immigrant visas through the end of 2020
- An additional pause on several job-related non-immigrant visa such as H-1B, H-2B, certain H-4, L and certain J Visas was also announced
2. What are H1B and other US work visas?
- H-1B Visa: Issued to highly skilled foreign workers; widely used by tech workers
- H-2B Visa: Issued to non-agricultural seasonal workers
- J-1 Visa: For individuals participating in work and study-based exchange visitor programs
- L-1 Visa: For transferring managers and other key employees of MNCs
3. Why did the US suspend work visas?
As per a White House briefing, extending and expanding the suspension of certain visas through the end of the year is to ensure American workers take first priority as USA recovers from the economic effects of the Coronavirus.
4. What will be the impact of the suspensions?
- As per an article, the restrictions would keep about 525,000 foreign workers out of USA for the rest of the year
- The order will be effective from June 24th, 2020 and existing visa holders are not expected to be affected by the suspension
5. What is India’s share of H-1B Visas?
- The US government has a cap of 85,000 total H1-B visas for each year and as per an article, over 70% of H1-B visa has granted each year go to Indians
- As per USCIS news release for FY 20-21, H-1B Cap Petitions, nearly 275,000 unique registrations were submitted and 67.7% were for potential beneficiaries from India
