SOURCE :- SIASAT NEWS
Certain proposals by the US Department of Homeland Security could spell massive challenges for Indian professionals on H-1B visas, reports suggest. For one, if the proposal to eliminate the discretionary 60-day grace period becomes law, it would remove the window available to non-immigrant workers once their employment ends.
For Indian professionals in the technology and engineering sectors, the move could raise the stakes of job loss, especially for those who have spent years in the US awaiting employment-based green cards.
This grace period of 60 days after their employment ends, or until their authorised stay expires, applies to workers in several visa categories: H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1, TN, E-1, E-2 and E-3.
At the same time, proposals to curtail work authorisations for H-4 dependent spouses and substantially increase fees for H-1B employer filings have re-emerged, signalling a tougher approach to employment-based immigration.
Work authorisation for H-4 dependent spouses
“DHS is proposing to remove from its regulations certain H-4 dependent spouses of H-1B non-immigrant workers as a class of aliens eligible to request employment authorization under the (c)(26) category. This proposal would reverse the changes made in the 2015 final rule, ‘Employment Authorization for Certain H-4 Dependent Spouses,’ and restore DHS’s long-standing policy of not extending eligibility to request employment authorization to H-4 dependent spouses,” the Times of India quoted a DHS statement.
According to the Firstpost, the US Department of Homeland Security introduced a provision in 2015 that allowed certain H-4 visa holders to obtain Employment Authorisation Documents (EADs), enabling them to work in the US.
The benefit is available only to spouses of H-1B workers who have made progress toward securing permanent residency. This includes those whose spouses have an approved Form I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker) or whose H-1B status has been extended beyond the usual six-year limit under the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act (AC21).
However, the latest administrative proposals, which are being considered alongside broader restrictions on the H-1B programme, seek to roll back the 2015 provision, potentially stripping H-4 spouses of their authorisation to work in the US.
What it could mean for Indians
Indian nationals continue to face long waits for employment-based green cards, particularly in the EB-2 and EB-3 categories, because of per-country limits that cap a nation’s share of employment-based visas at 7 per cent annually, said the Firstpost.
As a result, large numbers of Indians in sectors such as technology, research and corporate services remain in the US on successive H-1B extensions while awaiting permanent residency.
Eliminating the 60-day grace period would leave them vulnerable, as a job loss could immediately end their chance of continuing in the US.
SOURCE : SIASAT
