Corona Impact / America has a large number of people losing their jobs, with the unemployment rate reaching 14.7%; Consideration of temporary ban on work visas like H1-B

·      According to a Wall Street Journal report, Trump's immigration adviser plans to bring in an executive order

·      H1-B (Skilled Workers) and H-2B (Migrant Workers) can be included in the order's visa category

Washington. The US government is considering a temporary ban on work visas such as H1-B. According to media reports, a large number of people in America are in danger of losing their jobs. Due to this, the government can take this decision. There are only Indian IT professionals and students who get more H1-B visas than the US.

The US government recently granted 60 days exemption to H-1B visa holders and green card applicants due to coronavirus. However, this exemption is given only to those who have been given notice due to submission of documents.







What did the report say?

According to a Wall Street Journal report on Friday, "President Donald Trump's immigration adviser plans to bring an executive order. Hopefully it will come this month. There may be a temporary ban on work visas. It is believed that H1-B (Skilled Workers) and H-2B (Migrant Workers) can be included in the order's visa category. "








America worried about unemployed

In the past 2 months, 3.3 million people in the US have lost jobs due to the Corona epidemic. This has also affected the economy of the country. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have also rated the US growth rate negative. According to White House officials, the country's growth is expected to be 15-20% negative in the second quarter of the financial year.








MPs also asked Trump to suspend visas

4 Senate lawmakers Chuck Gresley, Tom Cotton, Ted Cruz and Josh Hall wrote to Trump on Friday. In this, he gave the report of the Labor Department. It stated that Corona finished 2 crore jobs in April. This led to an unemployment rate of 14.7%. Therefore, workers' visas coming from abroad should be suspended for at least one year.






MPs demand suspension of these visas



H-1B Visa: Visa given to special work employees

H-2B Visa: Visa given to seasonal workers for non-agricultural work

OTP Visa: Visa granted to students for internship after graduation

EB-5 Visa: Visa to be given to foreign rich people for investment

40% of Indians with OTP visas last year

Suspension of OTP visas will affect Indian students. Every year, many students from India go to the US for graduation on foreign student visas. After graduation, the US extends their visa. This is called OTP visa. Under this, foreign students can do US internship for one to three years. In 2019, there were two lakh 23 thousand foreign students in the US who got OTP visas after graduation, about 40% of them were Indians.








What is H1-B Visa?

H1-B is a non-immigrant visa, under which US companies invite foreign workers (especially IT professionals from India and China) to work. Currently there are about 50,000 immigrant workers working in the US on H1-B visas. As per the rule, if the company of an H-1B visa holder has terminated a contract with him, he will have to find a job in the new company within 60 days to maintain the visa status.