In a move that could hurt the IT sector in India, US President Donald Trump has extended the suspension of H-1B, J1 visas till the end of 2020. This will restrict the entry of estimated 5,25,000 high-skilled foreign workers into the United States of America.
Visa categories that come under this order include H-4 (for H-1B spouses), L1 (used for intracompany transfers), and J1 type (used by doctors and researchers). Though, those who are working in the healthcare field or research related to coronavirus, have been exempted from the visa ban.
Naming it as ‘America’s first recovery’ effort, the Trump administration aims at generating over half-a-million jobs for locals. The American economy is one of the worst-hit economies in the world due to coronavirus pandemic. Experts believe America is staring at a recession. Eventually, America is going into elections in November this year.
H-1Bs are technically the non-immigrant visas through which the US employers can appoint foreign workers in specialty jobs that require technical or theoretical expertise. These are the most sought-after visas, especially by Indian techies who wish to emigrate to the US and are used by tech giants to save labor costs. Â
Apparently, tech giants like Google and Microsoft have shown their disappointment on the decision to extend the suspension. A majority of such visas are used by companies like Google and Microsoft and even Indian IT companies to deploy engineers from India to the US.
