Shawdesh Desk:

The US Department of Homeland Security says the proposed H-1B visa changes are intended to streamline eligibility requirements, improve efficiency, and provide more benefits and flexibility to employers and workers.

New Delhi: US President Joe Biden is planning to change the H-1B Visa application system. Due to the existing H-1B visa system, thousands of Indians got a golden opportunity to work in America. Now lakhs of people who want a job in America are worried about what will be the change in H-1B visa… will they get a chance to work in America after changing the process…? Let us try to know the answers to some such questions…

What is H-1B visa?

America offers many types of visas, one of which is H-1B visa. This is a non-immigrant visa that allows companies in the US to hire foreign workers in specialized occupations requiring theoretical or technical expertise. Employers typically use the H-1B visa system to hire foreign nationals for US job roles for three to six years. H-1B visa holders who have begun the green card process for permanent resident status in the US can usually renew the work visa indefinitely.

How to apply for H-1B visa?

Every year, the US grants 65,000 H-1B visas and more than 20,000 visas to applicants who have a master’s degree or higher from a US institution. Each applicant must register on the US Citizenship and Immigration Services website and go through a lottery system to be selected for an H-1B visa. If an applicant is selected, the employer can begin the process by filing a petition on his or her behalf. Tech companies currently use this visa process to hire thousands of employees annually.

Why the change in H-1B visa process?

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says the proposed changes are intended to streamline eligibility requirements, improve efficiency, and provide more benefits and flexibility to employers and workers. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas said the priorities of the Biden-Harris administration are to attract global talent, reduce unfair burdens on employers, and prevent fraud and abuse in the immigration system.

What do experts say…

NDTV spoke to US-based writer Soundarya Balasubramani on the proposed changes to the H-1B visa process. Balasubramani went to America to pursue a master’s degree. After this he has passed the complex processes of obtaining H-1B visa and then green card. He now has his own company and his books serve as a guide to navigating the maze of legal immigration.

Regarding the proposed changes, Balasubramani said that an employee can no longer submit multiple applications as he has been doing now. This means that everyone will be provided equal opportunity in H-1B through lottery system. This is a big change. At the same time, there is good news for the founders. Now you can apply for H-1B visa through your company. They are going to be lax around what qualifies as an employer-employee relationship. This will allow more founders to use H-1B to build their companies in the US.
He said the third proposed change is the modernization of the organization to qualify as a cap-exempt organization. This means that such institutions are not required to hire employees through a lottery system. “They’re modernizing the process, so hopefully as an employee you’ll have more options for where to work, where you won’t have to go through a lottery,” Balasubramani said.

What changes for employers?

Balasubramani said the big change for employers is that “you can’t game the system” by trying to put in multiple applications for the same person. He said there is also a proposal to solidify the process for site visits by US officials. “They can come and check that you are a legitimate employer and that you are not setting up a shell company just to hire workers on H-1B,” he said. Balasubramani said officials are also tightening the definition of what qualifies as a specialized business. He explains, “For example, you have a job, a role that only requires a general degree, but not specialized training. Then you use that job role to hire an employee on an H-1B visa. “Can’t do it.”

When will the changes in H-1B visa process start?

Balasubramani said that all these changes are just proposals. Nothing has been finalized yet. This is in the initial stages of being proposed. The proposed rules will later be made public for feedback. He said, “The public will express its views, the Department of Homeland Security will collect all the inputs and reach the final decision. Hopefully, there will be no change in the status quo until it becomes implemented in the end of 2024.”

What is not changing?

What is not changing… Responding to a question, Balasubramani said, “What is not changing is the fundamental cap on H-1B visas. There are 85,000 H-1B visas that are set aside every year and issued. And it hasn’t changed in the last two decades. It’s not going to change (this time too), but your chances in the lottery may increase because everyone gets a fair chance and there will be no abuses.”