New restrictions may affect IT pros in India


The interim final rule announced by the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday, less than four weeks before the US presidential election, will reduce the definition of “specialty occupation” as Congress intended by closing the too broad definition that allowed businesses. play with the system.

It will also require companies to make “real” offers to “real employees,” closing the loopholes and preventing the displacement of American workers. And finally, the new rules would improve the department’s ability to enforce compliance through workplace inspections and monitor compliance before, during and after an H1-B petition is approved.

The H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialized occupations that require theoretical or technical experience.

Tech companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

This decision by the Trump administration is likely to have an adverse impact on thousands of Indian IT professionals. Already a large number of Indians with H-1B visas have lost their jobs and are returning home during the coronavirus pandemic that has severely affected the United States economy.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, the provisional final rule to be published in the Federal Register will take effect in 60 days.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is waiving the regular notice and comment period to immediately ensure that the employment of H-1B workers will not worsen the economic crisis caused by COVID-19 and it will negatively affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed US workers, he said.

The economic impact of the pandemic is an “obvious and compelling fact” that justifies good cause for issuing this interim final rule.

“We have entered an era in which economic security is an integral part of national security. In short, economic security is national security. In response, we must do everything we can within the limits of the law to ensure that the American worker comes first, “said Acting Secretary Chad Wolf.

US Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia said these changes will strengthen foreign worker programs and ensure opportunities for American workers to obtain stable, well-paying jobs.

“The US Department of Labor is strengthening wage protections, addressing abuses in these visa programs, and ensuring that American workers are not undermined by cheaper foreign labor,” he said.

In a conference call with reporters, Undersecretary of Labor Patrick Pizzella said these changes were long overdue and had become imperative in light of current conditions in the US job market.

“We are keeping the president’s promise to protect Americans from those who seek to exploit the system for their benefit,” he said, adding that the rule would “ensure that Americans are first in line for American jobs as we continue our recovery. “. “.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, the H-1B program was intended to allow employers to fill gaps in their workforce and remain competitive in the global economy, however, it has now expanded well beyond that, to often to the detriment of American workers.

Data shows that more than half a million H-1B nonimmigrants in the United States have been used to displace American workers, leading to lower wages in a number of industries in the American labor market and stagnation. of wages in certain occupations. said the Department of Homeland Security.

“This is part of a broader goal of the Trump administration in coordination with the Department of Labor to protect American workers,” he said.

The Labor Department said prevailing wage rates in these programs play an integral role in protecting American workers from the unfair competition posed by the entry of lower-cost foreign labor into the American labor market.

It is essential that the methodology used by the Department to calculate prevailing wage rates accurately reflects what US workers doing the same types of jobs and with similar qualifications do to ensure that employers cannot use foreign workers in place of US workers. , He said.

The interim final rule, he said, will improve the accuracy of current wages paid to foreign workers by aligning them with wages paid to similarly employed U.S. workers.

This will ensure that the Department more effectively protects the job opportunities and wages of American workers by removing the economic incentive to hire foreign workers permanently or temporarily in the United States over American workers, he said.

Trump, a Republican, is seeking another term in the White House. He is being challenged by former Vice President Joe Biden of the Democratic Party in the November 3 presidential election.

In June, the Trump administration suspended H-1B visas along with other types of foreign work visas until the end of 2020 to protect American workers.

This story has been published from a news agency feed with no changes to the text. Only the title has been changed.

Subscribe to Mint newsletters

* Please enter a valid email

* Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.

.