Visa holders anxious after decision
Vikram Desai, an information technology (IT) professional on an H-1B visa cleared for a Green Card, says that when he and his wife first heard of President Donald Trump’s order suspending work visas, they panicked.
“We have parents in the highrisk category of those vulnerable to Covid-19 and our first thoughts were that if one of us had to leave the US for India ,we may not be able to return until the end of the year,” he said. His H-1B visa has expired and he is on extension, which is being granted by US authorities in view of the Covid-19 restrictions. But if he or his wife were to travel anywhere out of the US, they will be unable to return without renewed visas. That was already a problem with consular operations closed at US missions, and now with the suspension, it’s even worse.
“It feels just safer to stay in the US,” Desai said, adding, “things are so uncertain at this time.”
Many Indians on H-1B or in line for Green Cards are stranded in India already because of the suspension of commercial flights. They have begun to make their way back, slowly. “This is a Hindu Ban much like the Muslim Ban,” said one of those impacted by the suspension, referring to the ban imposed on the entry of people from some Muslim majority countries by Trump, which remains in force, in a version diluted by legal challenges.
Indians are the largest beneficiaries of both H-1BS (more than 70% of the annual 85,000) and H-4 (for spouses and unmarried children). Indians accounted for 93% of the 126,853 H-4 EAD (employment authorization document) applications approved till December 2017, according to a study by the Congressional Research Service, a non-partisan provider of data and analysis to US congress, based on numbers from the USCIS.
H-4 was introduced by then President Barack Obama in 2015 as an incentive for Green Card hopefuls. Pramila Jayapal, the Indian American congresswoman who led an appeal by lawmakers to not cancel H-4, slammed Trump’s order in a post on Twitter: “For months, Trump has been desperately trying to do anything to open the country back up and return to ‘normal’. EXCEPT for those who are immigrants seeking to contribute to this country,” she wrote.
But for some IT services companies that use H-1BS to hire workers from outside, the order was “not as bad as feared”. “I breathed a sigh of relief,” said Deepali Khadakban, owner of New Jersey-based Precision Technologies. The company expected a hike in H-1B visa fee, which is paid by the employer, a change in the qualification for H-1B, and an end of work authorization for graduates as part of their course. The suspension will only push the joining date for hires from India from October to December.