New H1B Visa Rules: What it means for Indian professionals after US court scraps Trump’s hiring law
3 min read
New H1B Visa Rules: A US court ruling against two H-1B visa regulations proposed by the Donald Trump government (through and order in October 2020). That limited organizations from recruiting foreign employees have come as a source of tremendous relief to thousands of skilled IT experts in India also. Had the ruling arrived at this juncture, the Trump government’s more tight H1-B visa rules were good to go to be implemented from 7 December 2020.
What is the H1B visa?
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that permits US organizations to hire foreign workers that require theoretical or technical expertise. Unexpectedly, it is also the most searched after of the visas by Indian IT experts. Studies claim that the H-1B program helps US businesses secure skill sets that they cannot find locally. Also, these high-skilled employees provide add value to their employers and the US economy overall.
So what has changed with the New H1B Visa rules?
For the Hiring Companies:
- The Trump government’s (presently invalid) new regulations would have drastically reduced US businesses’ ability to recruit talented foreign workers.
- That would have forced businesses and organizations to release current employees who are now working with a few projects in the US.
- Various ongoing projects would need to be aborted or called off, causing huge misfortunes that the business enterprise might not have provided for in their cost estimation and financial planning.
- However, a few organizations may have thought that it was simpler to move work to areas outside the US to cut losses can’t be ruled out.
For Indian Professionals:
- The US government issues 85,000 H-1B visas every year.
- Indian nationals account for over 70% of all H-1B visas gave by the US.
- On the off chance that the court ruling had not ended the implementation of Trump’s government orders, a reduction in the overall quota of H-1B visa workers would mean organizations would (hesitantly) select to recruit (costlier) local talent or pay more to the current H-1B work visa holders.
- The Department of Labor rule, which happened on October 8, hiking compensation by 40% to 100% for H-1B visa holders and green card candidates, presently stands rejected. This would have made H-1B candidates more costly to recruit.
- The US court’s ruling essentially undoes the changes proposed by the Trump government.
What was the Trump government’s contentious order?
- In October, the Trump government had referred to Covid related job losses as a reason for changes it proposed.
- It had announced imposing salary requirements on organizations hiring skilled overseas workers and limits on specialty occupations.
- It had decided to restrict the validity of an H-1B visa for one year, rather than three, for a worker placed at a third-party worksite. Also, “We invite the court choice that clearly recognizes the importance of the high skill visa programs to the United States; and that the IFRs gave recently didn’t hold lawful rule,” said Nasscom after the US court rejected the discriminatory order.
[US settles claim against IT company for discrimination against American workers for H-1B holders]
The Indian IT industry’s Reaction
India’s IT industry body Nasscom had a problem with both the rules saying that it would hurt American organizations, workers, and the United States’ economy as a whole. “We invite the court decision that clearly recognizes the importance of the high skill visa programs to the United States; and that the IFRs gave recently didn’t hold legitimate rule,” said industry body Nasscom in a statement after the US court set aside the Trump administration order. Indian IT firms, for example, TCS, Infosys, and Wipro have discovered methods of operating by recruiting employees and planning working models in a way such that H1B visa rule changes do not affect them.
