H1B visa changes can send back Indians - Fusion - WeRIndia

More and more, it has been the dream of many aspiring young Indians to travel to the United States and find their careers in the world’s wealthiest nation, which they have done using the H-1B visa.

Originally, this visa was intended as a method to address a shortage of skilled workers in the United States.

However, over the years, it has become a route for immigration, and many foreigners, especially Indians and Chinese, have used it to become Green Card holders (permanent residents) and to eventually gain full citizenship.

Some of the biggest names in the American technology industry are foreigners, such as Indian-born Satya Nadella of Microsoft and Sundar Pichai of Google, both of whom have provided great value to the industry.

However, now, a decision by the Trump administration may not only make it harder for foreigners to come to America and become American citizens, but it could also result in hundreds of thousands of Indians being sent back to their home country, as well as thousands of foreigners from other countries.

This goes in line with Trump’s “Buy American, Hire American” initiative, which he proposed in the 2016 campaign.

Currently, foreigners are allowed to remain in the United States while their Green Card is being processed for their citizenship. Now, the Trump administration is proposing to force foreigners to leave the United States until the Green Card processing is complete.

Additionally, there are proposed plans to roll back the H-4 EAD, which was introduced during the Obama presidency and allowed the spouses of H-1B visa holders to work in the United States under certain conditions.

However, these proposals have not yet been implemented, and they might never be. Since the foreign-born workforce is such a major contribution to the American economy, there may be enough backlash against these proposed decisions to prompt the administration to vote against them.

Image credit: Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay  (Free for commercial use)

Image Reference: https://pixabay.com/it/illustrations/lavoratori-tecnologia-industria-5261734/