Indians living in America took a breath of piece when a US court has temporarily refused to strike down, an Obama-era rule that allowed spouses of H-1B visa holders to work in America.
According to this, the H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies
to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations.
to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations.
Earlier a 2015 rule issued by US President Donald Trump‘s predecessor Barack Obama allowed work permits for certain categories of H-4 visa holders, primarily spouses of those having H-1B work visas waiting for their Green Card, to work in the US.
The Indian women will be greatly benefited by this rule, which has been challenged by several US workers with the current Trump administration supporting their cause, saying that it wants to rescind the rule.
A three-judge bench of the US Courts of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit sent the case back to a lower court noting that it is “best to remand” to give the district court an opportunity to thoroughly assess and finally determine the merits in the first instance.
The federal court said “Accordingly, we reverse the district court’s grant of summary judgment and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion,” in its order on the lawsuit filed by Saves Jobs USA.
Saves Jobs USA mostly represents American workers who claim that they have been laid off due to the policy of the Obama administration to provide work permits to H-4 visa holders.
The court said, By making H-4 visa holders eligible for lawful employment, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees immigration, requested to “ameliorate certain disincentives that currently lead H-1B nonimmigrants to abandon efforts to remain in the US while seeking (lawful permanent resident) status, thereby, minimising disruptions to US businesses employing such workers”,.
How Does It Affect Indians?
They also noted that the government has explained that H-1B nonimmigrants and their families often face long delays in the process of obtaining permanent residence, and H-4 visa holders’ inability to work during these delays leads to “personal and economic hardships” that worsen over time, “increasing the disincentives for H-1B nonimmigrants to pursue lawful permanent resident status and thus increasing the difficulties that US employers have in retaining highly educated and highly skilled nonimmigrant workers”.
With this decision, the judges also observed that the rule will cause more H-1B visa holders to remain in the US than otherwise would – an effect that is distinct from that of the H-1B visa holders’ initial admission to the country.
