The Donald Trump administration on Monday announced it was not considering any proposal that could lead to deportation of thousands of H-1B visa holders by denying them extensions beyond the maximum permissible period of six years.
The announcement by the USCIS came days after reports emerged that Trump was considering tightening H-1B visa rules
The Donald Trump administration on Monday announced it was not considering any proposal that could lead to deportation of thousands of H-1B visa holders by denying them extensions beyond the maximum permissible period of six years.
The announcement by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) came days after reports emerged that the Trump administration was considering tightening H-1B visa rules that could lead to deportation of 7,50,000 Indians.
“What we can say, however, is that USCIS is not considering a regulatory change that would force H-1B visa holders to leave the United States by changing our interpretation of section 104(c) of AC-21, which provides for H-1B extensions beyond the 6 year limit,” Jonathan Withington, Chief of Media Relations at US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency that oversees H-1Bs said in a statement.
“Even if it were, such a change would not likely result in these H-1B visa holders having to leave the United States because employers could request extensions in one-year increments under section 106(a)-(b) of AC21 instead.”
Withington added that the USCIS was never considering such a policy change and that “any suggestion that USCIS changed its position because of pressure is absolutely false.”
The statement comes after last week's news report by US- based news agency McClatchy DC Bureau according to which the US was considering new regulations to prevent the extension of H-1B visas, the most sought after by Indian IT professionals.
The USCIS has a Congressional mandate to issue 65,000 H- 1B visas in general category and another 20,000 for those applicants having higher education -- masters and above -- from US universities in the field of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
The H-1B programme offers temporary US visas that allow companies to hire highly skilled foreign professionals working in areas with shortages of qualified American workers.
Since taking office last January, the Trump administration has been talking about cracking down on the H- 1B visa scheme.
During his election campaign, President Trump promised to increase oversight of our H-1B and L-1 visa programmes to prevent its abuse.