[ad_1]
WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 (PTI) — The Presidential Council of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders unanimously approved the recommendation to provide H-1B visa stamping within the United States, a move that would significantly ease the number of Thousands of foreign professionals, especially from India.
The H-1B visa is a nonimmigrant visa that allows U.S. companies to employ foreign workers in specialized occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Tech companies rely on it every year to hire tens of thousands of workers from countries like India and China.
Under current mandatory practice, a person needs to apply for a visa stamp at a U.S. consulate or embassy abroad before H-1B status can be activated.
The move comes from Wednesday’s meeting of the president’s Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Advisory Council at the White House.
It is worth noting that due to the
India, where the current waiting period is more than a year. Committee member Ajay Jain Bhutoria, an Indian-American, made a recommendation.
“As part of our immigration process, H-1B visa holders have the opportunity to work and live in the United States and contribute to our economic growth, innovation and economic development,” Bhutoria told committee members during the meeting, which It was broadcast live from the White House.
He told committee members that H-1B visa holders face problems and in many cases are even forced to be separated from their families during renewals or when traveling abroad.
“In some cases, many people have parents who were in intensive care or in critical condition or whose parents have died, but are unable to return to their home countries due to concerns about frequent delays in visa appointments,” he said.
“Now in India, the waiting period to get a visa appointment is 844 days, which is about two years or more. It’s a similar situation in Pakistan, Bangladesh and many other countries. China is much better now. So they can’t make an appointment, they can’t get it done. stamped, and thus got into trouble,” Bhaturia said.
Bhaturia, who lives in Silicon Valley, is a successful entrepreneur who has been a supporter of Biden’s presidential campaign since day one.
“Then what happens, they might lose their jobs. Wife and kids are separated here, with no way to support themselves, or a lot of times the spouse doesn’t drive. Many of these situations disrupt their lives while they have ample opportunity It’s legal to work here,” he argued.
The recommendation basically says that USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) should update its policy, as it did years ago, to provide guidelines that allow USCIS to extend and stamp visas in the United States, he said.
“It’s been done before. It’s been stopped,” he added.
“The proposal is to require USCIS to allow stamping in the United States. Alternatively, USCIS should also consider providing these visa holders with advance travel documents when they will be leaving the country with their visa stamp expired. That way they can re-enter the U.S. without having to re-stamp in their home country,” Bhutoria said.
Several members of the committee described this as family separation and mental health issues.
Chief Commissioner Sonal Shah, an Indian-American, said it was a matter of family separation and the dignity of H-1B visa holders.
“It’s an easy way to scare families,” she said.
“One of the comments I’m going to make here is that I think it’s the committee’s general thinking on people’s dignity and how we can make it easier, a dignified process and a dignified approach. It’s one thing to have rules, not to respect The dignity of the family and the individual is another,” Shah said.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from the Syndicated News feed, the body of the content may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
[ad_2]
Source link