A U.S. court has ruled that spouses of H-1B and L-1 visa holders are entitled to automatic work permit extensions of up to 180 days. The United States’ recent decision to grant spouses of H-1B visa holders automatic work authorization licenses will benefit thousands of Indian professionals already living and working there. Spouses of noncitizens who were denied work permits subsequently lost their jobs, prompting a claim filed by the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
A U.S. court has ruled that spouses of H-1B and L-1 visa holders are entitled to automatic work permit extensions of up to 180 days. The extension is automatically granted to L-1 visa holders’ spouses. However, H-4 visa holders must extend their work permits before expiring.
Creating a system where spouses of H-1B visa holders are automatically issued work permits:
Two U.S. congressmen have presented a bill in the House of Congress that would legalize the employment of the spouses of thousands of foreign nationals, including Indians, to assist in alleviating the labor shortage affecting American firms. H-4 visas are available for spouses and minor children of H-1B, H-2A, H-2B, and H-3 visa holders. Numerous H-4 visa holders have accomplished much, whether by gaining valuable work experience or supporting their families.
H-1B nonimmigrant visas allow U.S. employers to temporarily hire foreign nationals for specialist occupations that demand high levels of specialized knowledge and experience. It’s a primary reason why thousands of employees from countries like India and China are hired by I.T. companies every year. There are three types of temporary employees: H-2A farmhands, H-2B service workers, and H-3 nonimmigrant trainees and exchange visitors.
On Thursday, Representatives Carolyn Bourdeaux and Maria Elvira Salazar proposed the H-4 Work Authorisation Act, which would change existing law to allow spouses of H-1B visa holders to begin working immediately after earning an H-4 visa. They reasoned that more visa holders would apply for EADs (employment authorization documents) if doing so was optional. The two lawmakers insist their legislation will help families of undocumented workers and provide American firms a leg up during the current labor crunch.
H-4 visa holders must apply for work authorization before working in the United States, even if they are physically present. Application processing periods for work permits are currently running between six and eight months, and in some cases considerably longer, due to backlogs at USCIS. Nonprofit advocacy group UnidosUs and the National Immigration Forum have voiced their support for the bill in the hopes that it will alleviate the current labor crisis in the United States and allow visa holders to find work quickly to support their families.
A press release suggests that the backlog of work authorization applications may be reduced if H-4 visa holders were granted immediate work authorization and if USCIS processed fewer work authorizations overall. rajkotupdates.news : america granted work permits for indian spouses of h-1 b visa holders.
The Difference Between an H-4 Visa and an L-2 Visa:
The current modification benefits immigrants by automatically extending the work permits of spouses of L-1 and H-1B visa holders for 180 days. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issues H-4 visas to spouses and minor children of H-1B visa holders. Statistics published by the United States government show that women constitute more than 94% of H-4 visa holders. The vast majority, at 93%, are Indian nationals.
The duration of an L-1 nonimmigrant visa is shorter than that of other visa categories. This visa program temporarily allows foreign nationals with specialized skills to work for multinational firms in the United States. L-2 visas are available to spouses and children under 21 of L-1 visa holders. Those who hold an L-2 visa and want to find work in the U.S. must first apply for and receive an EAD before they may begin working.
What This Means for India:
Spouses of H-1B and L-2 visa holders who want to work in the United States no longer need employment authorization documents. Suppose the government needs to act on timely-filed petitions from H-4 spouses seeking renewal of their employment authorization. In that case, the spouse’s permit to work will be extended automatically for 180 days beyond its expiration date, per the settlement provisions. Family members of H-1B visa holders are eligible for H-4 visas. The lawsuit sought to overcome the procedural bottlenecks that resulted in many spouses losing their jobs due to the lengthy application process (which can take up to two years).
According to Forbes, one of the complaint’s original plaintiffs was Divya Jayaraj, an international student who had previously visited the United States as a tourist but had now returned as the spouse of an H-1B visa holder. As a career, she was a doctor. Divya’s lawsuit claims that she was fired “because of agency inaction” after she applied to extend her H-4 status on Form I-539 and her employment authorization document (EAD) on Form I-765 on August 25, 2020.
In light of the unprecedented number of H-1B requests, a U.S. government agency has voiced “serious concerns” about the visa lottery.
The number of visa applications utilized in the I.T. industry has soared for the second year in a row, and authorities cautioned Friday that they have “serious concerns” that some are exploiting the system for an unfair advantage. The number of people who entered this year’s computer-generated lottery for H-1B visas was 780,884, up 61% over the previous year’s total of 483,927, as reported by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to “stakeholders.” This is an increase from 2017’s total of 308,613 submissions.
Employees who win the lottery must now sign affidavits stating they did not conspire with others to make several bids under different firm names, even if no employment offer was made. If they could win once, it would give them the confidence to try to become labor contractors for tech companies eager to hire people without the proper visas.
More significant numbers of eligible registrants than in past years raise serious concerns that some may have sought an unfair advantage by submitting several registrations on behalf of the same beneficiary. The organization theorized that this may have contributed to their unjust selection.
Over the past two years, the group says it has “undertaken extensive fraud investigations” into lottery applications, dismissing some petitions and “in the process” of referring others to federal authorities. The number of duplicate registrations increased to 408,891 in 2018 from 165,180 in 2017 and 90,143 in 2016 and 2015. The administration has promised to keep cracking down on fraudulent applications so that only law-abiding persons can file H-1B cap petitions.
Because of allegations that its beneficiaries are lowering the wages of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, the H-1B visa, utilized by software engineers and others in the computer industry, has become a flashpoint in the immigration debate. Companies in the I.T. sector claim layoffs are unavoidable due to a lack of qualified candidates for high-demand jobs. As the number of applications submitted to significant technology firms has increased over the previous two years, the percentage of successful lottery submissions has decreased.
Increase the available number of H-1B visas and other forms of legal immigration:
A legislator in the USA:
To meet the demand for talented employees from India, Indian American congressman Shri Thanedar has asked U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to raise the number of available H-1B visas, which are especially popular among Indian I.T. experts. Through the H-1B nonimmigrant visa program, U.S. employers can sponsor foreign nationals for temporary work in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical ability.
I.T. companies in the United States annually hire tens of thousands of people from emerging countries like India and China. Thanedar told House Committee on Homeland Security chair John Mayorkas, “We must expand legal pathways for immigration, perhaps by increasing the annual allotment of H-1B visas,” during testimony on the Department of Homeland Security’s budget request for Fiscal Year 2024.
There are 85,000 H-1B visas every year, with 20,000 set aside for foreign nationals with advanced degrees obtained in the United States. Thanedar, a Democrat, has stated that the issues with border security demonstrate the necessity to overhaul the U.S. immigration system. He was the only member of Congress who questioned the Secretary of Homeland Security about the H-1B visa program.
Thanedar claims that DHS is responsible for essential tasks outside the country’s borders to ensure American security. For instance, we must ensure the TSA can adequately protect all modes of transportation going forward. He continued by saying that TSA personnel on the front lines were paid 30 percent less and had fewer labor protections than other government employees, although doing essentially the same task. rajkotupdates.news : america granted work permits for indian spouses of h-1 b visa holders.
As a result of more good suggestions from Ranking Member Thompson and other Democrats, Republicans’ attempts to solve these concerns have failed. To his relief, “in July, increased protections and compensation for TSA employees will go into effect thanks to the votes of Democrats last year.”
