IT employees caught in US H-1B freeze

Washington: US President Donald Trump has prolonged the freeze on essentially the most sought-after H-1B visas by Indian IT professionals, together with different varieties of overseas work visas and inexperienced playing cards by way of March 31 to guard American staff, saying that the explanations for which he had imposed such restrictions amidst the pandemic haven’t modified.

The freeze on numerous classes of labor visas was ordered by Trump by way of two proclamations on April 22 and June 22 final yr.

Hours earlier than the freeze was set to run out on December 31, Trump issued one other proclamation on Thursday to increase it till March 31, making certain that his sweeping limits on authorized immigration will stay in place when President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in on January 20.

He mentioned that the explanations for which he had issued such a restriction haven’t modified.

The continuation of the restrictions, which comes with simply 20 days left within the Republican President’s time period, is the most recent effort to bar the entry of immigrants to the US.

Limiting immigration has been a spotlight of the Trump administration since its first days when it issued the journey ban on seven Muslim-majority international locations, and it has continued into Trump’s remaining yr in workplace because the White Home makes use of the coronavirus pandemic as cowl.

Biden, a Democrat, has promised to carry the suspension on H-1B visas, saying Trump’s immigration insurance policies are merciless.

US media commented that Trump’s choice was yet one more instance of how the his administration is making an attempt to field Biden in on difficult coverage issues.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that permits US corporations to make use of overseas staff in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical experience. The know-how corporations rely upon it to rent tens of hundreds of workers every year from international locations like India and China.

They might now have to attend no less than until the top of March earlier than approaching the US diplomatic missions to get stamping. It could additionally affect numerous Indian IT professionals who’re in search of renewal of their H-1B visas.

President Trump mentioned that the consequences of COVID-19 on the US labour market and the well being of American communities are a matter of ongoing nationwide concern, and the concerns current within the two earlier proclamations haven’t been eradicated.

“The 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to considerably disrupt Individuals’ livelihoods. Whereas the November general unemployment price in the US of 6.7 per cent displays a marked decline from its April excessive, there have been nonetheless 9,834,000 fewer seasonally adjusted nonfarm jobs in November than in February of 2020,” Trump mentioned in his proclamation.

The present variety of new every day circumstances worldwide reported by the World Well being Group (WHO), for instance, is larger than the comparable quantity current throughout June, and whereas therapeutics and vaccines are not too long ago out there for an rising variety of Individuals, their impact on the labour market and neighborhood well being has not but been absolutely realised, he mentioned.

“Furthermore, actions similar to States’ continued imposition of restrictions on companies nonetheless have an effect on the variety of staff that may be employed as in contrast with February of 2020,” Trump mentioned, including that his newest proclamation could also be prolonged if crucial.

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