The proposal will affect about 8,000 foreign workers per year, the State Department said. (Proceedings)
Washington:
The State Department has proposed not to issue temporary business visas for H-1B specialty occupations, allowing companies to send their tech professionals for a short stay to complete on-site jobs in the U.S., a move that it could affect hundreds of Indians.
The proposal, if finalized, will eliminate any misconception that the “B-1 policy instead of H” provides an alternative pathway for foreign professionals to enter the US. To obtain skilled labor that allows them to, and potentially even encourage them and their employers to circumvent the restrictions and requirements related to the nonimmigrant “H” classification established by Congress to protect American workers, the State Department said.
The measure, which was made public on Wednesday, less than two weeks before the November 3 presidential election, is likely to affect several Indian companies that send their technology professionals on B-1 visas for a short stay to complete. site jobs in the USA
In December 2019, the California Attorney General announced an $ 800,000 settlement against Infosys Ltd to resolve allegations that approximately 500 Infosys employees worked in the state on company-sponsored B-1 visas instead of H-1B visas. said the State Department.
“The proposed changes and the resulting transparency would reduce the impact of foreign labor on the US workforce of foreigners engaged in activities in a specialty occupation without the procedural protections associated with the H-1B classification,” he said.
In its notice issued Wednesday, the State Department said that US architecture firms seeking protection against rising labor costs in the country may believe they could fire US architects and contract the same services from a foreign architecture firm. .
If a foreign company were to seek H-1B visas for its architects, it would be required to pay the prevailing wage for architects in the intended US area of employment, presumably the same wage that American architects had been paid, and meet the other requirements. enacted by Congress to protect American workers.
But under the B-1 policy instead of the H policy, foreign architects could apparently seek B-1 visas and travel to the US to meet a temporary need for architectural services, provided they maintained a residence in the country. and will continue to receive a salary, perhaps significantly lower than is customary for American architects, distributed overseas by the foreign firm (or under the auspices of a foreign parent or subsidiary), the State Department said.
“If architects who intended to perform skilled work were ‘of distinguished merit and ability … seeking to perform (temporary architectural services) of an exceptional nature requiring such merit and ability, one could argue that current regulatory language suggests that this type of work is an allowable basis for the issuance of B-1 nonimmigrant visas, “said the State Department.
This potential outcome is detrimental to American workers and contrary to the policies of the Trump administration, he said. The State Department said the application process for a B-1 visa does not include similar procedural requirements to protect American workers as those for H-1B visas. Also, the fees for B-1 visas are much lower than for H-1B visas.
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