The United States Embassy in India on Monday said starting December 15, the United States has 'expanded' online presence reviews to all H-1B and H-4 applicants as part of standard visa screening, and this vetting is being conducted globally for 'all applicants of all nationalities' for these two visa categories.
US Representative Greg Steube, a Republican from Florida, introduced the 'Ending Exploitative Imported Labour Exemptions Act or EXILE Act', a bill that would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act by ending the H-1B visa programme.
The US has expanded its review of social media and online presence to cover all H-1B speciality occupation workers and their H-4 dependents, the US embassy in India said on December 10.
India has raised concerns with the United States regarding the cancellation of scheduled H1B visa interviews for Indian applicants due to enhanced vetting measures. Both countries are engaged in discussions to address the disruptions caused by the delays.
Thousands of Indian H-1B workers are stranded in India after sudden visa appointment cancellations at US consulates.
A deep dive into Trump's new policy and what it means for Indian professionals and companies.
Immigration attorneys and companies are advising H-1B visa holders to return to the US immediately due to concerns over President Trump's plan to impose a USD 100,000 fee on the work visas.
'The kids are already used to this place. We go back and that's a different environment.' 'So, mentally, emotionally we are stressed.'
'If I have to go back, I would rather go back now because I don't want to face that situation when I'm in my 40s.' A young couple's journey through immigration uncertainty reveals not just the human cost of policy announcements, but a surprising rekindling of love for the homeland left behind.
Two US lawmakers have introduced a bill in the House of Representatives that aims at granting an automatic right to H-4 visa holders to work in the country, a move which will benefit the spouses of thousands of foreigners, including Indians, and also address the labour shortage affecting American businesses. H-4 visas are issued to dependent spouses and children who accompany H-1B, H-2A, H-2B, and H-3 visa holders to the United States. Many H-4 visa holders are highly skilled people in their own right and previously had careers of their own or worked to support their families.
Why the proposed United States rule change for H-4 (dependent) visa holders is not enough and what you should do about it
The sixth game of the World Chess Championship between India's D Gukesh and China's Ding Liren ended in a draw.
The draw left both players on an identical tally of 6.5 points each, with just one game left in the 14-round classical time control format, still shy of 1 point in order to win the title.
The drawn match left both the players on an identical tally of 4.5 points each, still shy of 3 points in order to win the championship.
D Gukesh paid dearly for unwarranted complications in the middle game, allowing defending champion Ding Liren of China to clinch the opening game
The second, fourth, fifth and sixth games had ended in draws.
As a result, about 1,80,000 would be eligible to work in the US.
"Removing H-4 Dependent Spouses From the Class of Aliens Eligible for Employment Authorisation," said the US department of homeland security's unified agenda in the federal register notification of its semi-annual regulatory agenda.
In a huge relief for H-1B visa holders, a White House-backed bipartisan deal has been unveiled under which automatic work authorisation would be granted to about 100,000 H-4 visa holders, who are spouses and children of a certain category of H-1B visa holders. The National Security Agreement that was announced on Sunday after long negotiations between the Republican and the Democratic leadership in the US Senate also provides a solution to about 250,000 aged-out children of H-1B visa holders. The move comes as good news for hundreds and thousands of Indian technology professionals who are waiting in a painstakingly long wait for a Green Card, in the absence of which their spouses cannot work and their aged-out children face the threat of deportation.
'I hope that Macho Man agrees to debate her, because I think she will do spectacularly well in the debate.'
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.
In yet another immigration-friendly move that would benefit thousands of Indian-American women, the Biden administration has agreed to provide automatic work authorisation permits to the spouses of H-1B visa holders, most of whom are Indian IT professionals.
Amid growing concerns of surging COVID-19 cases, the US has announced that it will waive the in-person interview requirement for a range of visa applicants during the entire year in 2022, including for H-1B workers and students, many of whom are from India. The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.
The lawsuit seeks an order declaring the presidential proclamation restriction on issuing new H-1B or H4 visas or admitting new H-1B or H-4 visa holders as unlawful.
H-4 is issued to the spouse of H-1B visa holders, a significantly large number of whom are high-skilled professionals from India.
The move will have a major impact on Indian women as they are the major beneficiary of the Obama-era rule.
The Trump administration is reportedly moving ahead with its decision not to give work permits to the spouses of H-1B visa-holders, arguing that this displaces genuine American workers.
The study, published in the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, noted that the 'nanobodies' can prevent infection with the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 by blocking its interaction with the protein ACE2, which it uses as a gateway to enter and infect cells.
An H4 visa is granted to the spouse/child of an H-1B worker.
The government has asked for a 60-day pause in the case to 'allow incoming leadership personnel adequate time to consider the issues'.
The US dependent visa puts many restrictions on the spouses, mostly women, of the skilled workers who have an H1-B visa. Some even felt like they were thrown back into a model of the 'traditional family' where women are not valued at all outside of the home.
India has no work visa similar to the H-1B, nor a reciprocal arrangement with the US. India does not provide employment authorisation to spouses of those who hold an Indian employment visa.
Now, these spouses can be employed in the United States while on an H-4 visa. In many cases, these spouses will now begin working or starting their own companies
It has been the preferred visa for Indian IT companies and has helped them keep costs down and gain a margin advantage over multinational players by sending engineers to the US.
Former Test umpire and Hampshire cricketer John Holder is among those who have called for an independent inquiry into the dearth of non-white match officials in English cricket.
The US state department, which issued the revised travel advisory, on Wednesday said that the exemptions have been given under the national interest category.
The lawsuit seeks to overturn these sweeping and unlawful immigration restrictions that are an unequivocal not welcome sign to the engineers, executives, IT experts, doctors, nurses, and other critical workers who help drive the American economy.
'And we said to him, "What will you do for us if we jump in early?"' 'His answer was very simple: "I'm going to have the most diverse cabinet and administration in the history of the US".' '"You can expect that you will have a seat at the table, okay? Number one. So influence if I win".' '"Number two, you should fully expect that we will focus on the issues that you care about: Immigration".'
By naming the 55-year-old lawyer and politician from California as his running mate, Biden made history by selecting the first Black woman to compete on a major party's presidential ticket. If elected she would be the first ever women to be the vice president of the US and the first ever Indian-American and African vice president of the country.
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