Trump extends freeze on H-1B, different work visas till March 31; Indian IT professionals to be hit

US President Donald Trump has prolonged the freeze on probably the most sought-after H-1B visas by Indian IT professionals, together with different sorts of overseas work visas and inexperienced playing cards by March 31 to guard American staff, saying that the explanations for which he had imposed such restrictions amidst the pandemic has not modified.
The freeze on numerous classes of labor visas was ordered by Trump by two proclamations on April 22 and June 22 final yr.
Hours earlier than the freeze was set to run out on December 31, Trump issued one other proclamation on Thursday to increase it till March 31.
He stated that the explanations for which he had issued such a restriction has not modified.
The continuation of the restrictions, which comes with simply 20 days left within the Republican President’s time period, are the newest effort to bar the entry of immigrants to the US.
Restricting immigration has been a spotlight of the Trump administration since its first days when it issued the journey ban on seven Muslim-majority international locations, and it has continued into Trump’s closing yr in workplace because the White House makes use of the coronavirus pandemic as cowl.
US President-elect Joe Biden has promised to raise the suspension on H-1B visas, saying Trump’s immigration insurance policies are merciless.
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that enables US firms to make use of overseas staff in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical experience. The know-how firms rely upon it to rent tens of 1000’s of workers annually from international locations like India and China.
They would now have to attend at the very least until the top of March earlier than approaching the US diplomatic missions to get stamping. It would additionally impression a lot of Indian IT professionals who’re searching for renewal of their H-1B visas.
President Trump stated that the consequences of COVID-19 on the US labour market and the well being of American communities is a matter of ongoing nationwide concern, and the concerns current within the two earlier proclamations haven’t been eradicated.
“The 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to significantly disrupt Americans’ livelihoods. While the November overall unemployment rate in the United States of 6.7 per cent reflects a marked decline from its April high, there were still 9,834,000 fewer seasonally adjusted nonfarm jobs in November than in February of 2020,” Trump stated in his proclamation.

The present variety of new every day circumstances worldwide reported by the World Health Organization (WHO), for instance, is larger than the comparable quantity current throughout June, and whereas therapeutics and vaccines are not too long ago accessible for an growing variety of Americans, their impact on the labour market and group well being has not but been absolutely realised, he stated.
“Moreover, actions such as States’ continued imposition of restrictions on businesses still affect the number of workers that can be hired as compared with February of 2020,” Trump stated, including that his newest proclamation could also be prolonged if obligatory.