In a huge relief for Indian techies, the Trump administration has announced that it is not considering any change in its present H-1B visa extension policy for those awaiting green cards for permanent residency, thereby averting a crisis that could have sent lakhs of skilled professionals back home.
Clarifying the matter a week after an American media outlet put out the alarming report, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said in a statement on Monday that it is not considering any regulatory change that would force H-1B visa holders with pending green card petitions to return home after a six-year stint in the US.
While a review of employment-based visa programmes is going on as part of President Donald Trump’s “Buy American, Hire American” Executive Order, the USCIS said it is not considering denial of extensions to H-1B visa holders beyond six years by re-interpreting a legislative provision, as reported by McClatchy DC Bureau last week.
The USCIS further stated that even if it had resorted to such a reinterpretation, it would not have resulted in the H-1B visa holders having to leave the United States since employers could request extensions in one-year increments instead of the usual three-year increments.
USCIS media chief Jonathan Withington sought to make it clear that the agency was never considering such a policy change, adding, “Any suggestion that USCIS changed its position because of pressure is absolutely false.”
Citing unnamed sources, the McClatchy report had spoken of internal memos exchanged by top immigration officials considering denial of H-1B extensions by re-interpreting a key section of “The American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act”, commonly known as AC-21.
The report immediately triggered acute concern, bordering on panic, among the large Indian community across the US. Some reports estimated that nearly a million H-1B visa holders, as many as 500,000 to 750,000 of them Indians, could be forced to proceed home in case of such a decision.
The grim possibility prompted several US lawmakers and industry bodies to sit up and take notice. The US Chamber of Commerce came out in strong opposition, saying: “It would be tremendously bad policy to tell highly skilled individuals who are applying for permanent residency and have been working in the US for several years that they are no longer welcome.”
The concern had prompted Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and Republican Congressman Kevin Yoder to write to President Trump, urging him “not to deport H-1B holders awaiting permanent residency processing”, adding that such an action would also prove to be “harmful to the American economy, credibility, and relations with India and the Indian-American community”.
While the Indian tech community can heave a sigh of relief over the USCIS clarification on H-1B extensions, other issues concerning this coveted work visa are still on the front burner. These include moves to tighten this visa regime, with pending Bills specifically targeting Indian tech companies with US operations by steeply raising the minimum wages payable.
The other major concern revolves around the impending proposal to withdraw work permits for H-1B spouses. This plan, which the authorities have confirmed is very much in the works, will again hit Indians the most. The previous Obama administration had three years ago granted work permits to spouses of H-1B workers awaiting green cards.