U.S. PROPOSES ENDING BIZ VISA ROUTE FOR H-1B SPECIALITY OCCUPATIONS

The US state department in a federal notification on Wednesday proposed to make changes to its existing visa regulations under which foreign professionals, which would fall under H-1B, would not be issued temporary visa for business, as has been widely prevalent.

If finalised, this proposal will eliminate any misconception that the “B-1 in lieu of H policy” provides an alternative avenue for foreign professionals to enter the US to perform skilled labour that allows, and potentially even encourages them and their employers, to circumvent the restrictions and requirements relating to the H non-immigrant classification established by the Congress to protect US workers, the state department said.

The move is likely to impact a lot of Indian companies who send their technology professionals on B-1 visas for a short stay to complete the jobs on site in the US.

On December 17, 2019, the California attorney general announced a $800,000 settlement against Infosys to resolve allegations that about 500 Infosys employees worked in California on Infosys-sponsored B-1 visas rather than H-1B visas, the state department said.

The state department said a US architecture firm seeking protection from rising labour costs might believe it could lay off its US architects and contract for the same professional architectural services to be provided by a foreign architecture firm.

If the foreign firm sought H-1B visas for its architects, it would be required to pay the prevailing wage for architects in the area of intended employment in the US, presumably the same wage the US architects had been paid, and meet other requirements enacted by the Congress to protect US workers.