Work Permits For Indian Spouses of H-1B Visa Holders

According to rajkotupdates.news : america granted work permits for indian spouses of h-1 b visa holders in an effort to help immigrant families thrive as well as help American businesses flourish.

Studies indicate that 90% of these spouses are Indian women with college degrees who contribute significantly to India’s economy; should any of them lose employment it could result in an annual reduction of $7.5 billion for its economy.

Indian IT Professionals

Recent layoffs of over 200,000 IT workers has taken an unprecedented toll on Indian IT professionals working in the United States on work visas. Many are finding it impossible to secure employment within the given timeframe and must return back home in search of better opportunities.

Indian IT professionals have responded by creating WhatsApp groups to share job vacancies in the US with each other and offer their consultancy services as part of a support mechanism for other IT professionals looking for jobs.

Ajay Bhutoria, a community leader and advocate of immigrant rights, expressed his happiness that America had granted work permits to spouses of H-1 b visa holders. This will make life simpler for them and their families, according to him.

According to reports in The Washington Post, the Biden administration has agreed to issue automatic work authorisation permits to spouses of H-1B visa holders (mostly Indian IT professionals). This decision has been welcomed by several organizations.

These spouses tend to be highly educated and would make ideal candidates for filling skilled IT positions at American firms. According to a 2022 National Foundation for American Policy study, permitting these spouses to work would increase the economic benefits of the H-1B program.

However, this rule is very stringent; it does not permit H-1B spouses to get work permits at the same time as their husbands or wives receive their work authorization, forcing many family members to remain in the country longer than necessary.

Note that a work permit is not permanent residency or citizenship – it merely enables legal work in Canada and provides access to Canadian universal healthcare and social services.

If you are an IT specialist seeking employment in the US, Canada offers the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) stream as a path towards work permit eligibility. This visa caters exclusively for skilled immigrants and usually features a points-based Comprehensive Ranking System to grant it.

Save Jobs USA

Save Jobs USA successfully won an impressive victory for IT workers and their families when a federal judge dismissed a Save Jobs USA lawsuit that challenged an Obama-era regulation allowing spouses of H-1B visa holders to work in the US. A federal district court found that DHS’ policy does not irreparably damage American nationals, and was legally entitled to issue work permits for H-4 visa holders.

Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected Save Jobs USA’s argument that Congress has never granted DHS the authority to authorize employment for foreign spouses and dependents of visa holders, ruling instead that this function has long been delegated to executive branch by law.

The H-1B visa program is an invaluable source of skilled immigration into the US, enabling companies to employ highly educated foreign workers for specific occupations. The US government has long supported this initiative and issued work permits for H-1B spouses as well.

However, the Obama administration’s rule revoking such authorization has hurt both U.S.-born tech workers and their employers, according to lawyers for these workers who presented evidence before a federal appeals court panel. According to these lawyers, competition in IT increased due to this policy which prevented these individuals from finding jobs within it, according to lawyers of these tech workers.

Save Jobs USA filed a lawsuit in 2015 alleging that Obama-era rules had irreparably damaged U.S. citizens and prevented them from finding work opportunities within the IT industry.

Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft were among those opposing the lawsuit stating it would create “extra” job competition and damage the economy. They asked the judge to dismiss it altogether.

DHS disputes the grounds of the lawsuit as the agency asserts it has yet to prove that giving work permits to H-4 visa holders will cause irreparable harm to American nationals and that plaintiff affidavits do not demonstrate immediate actual harm.

Ajay Bhutoria, an immigrant rights advocate from local Miami Gardens has welcomed the court’s ruling and hopes it will make immigration system more compassionate and equitable.

Judge Chutkan

rajkotupdates.news : america granted work permits for indian spouses of h-1 b visa holders, providing much-needed relief to both Indian IT professionals and their families in Washington, DC region. Judge Chutkan’s ruling will enable spouses of H-1B workers to make ends meet through employment – something Ajay Bhutoria, an influential community leader from Washington, DC stated as being essential.

H-1B visas provide American companies with an avenue to employ foreign nationals in specialized occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise, and technology firms rely on these nonimmigrant visas each year to hire thousands of workers from India and China.

According to a 2022 study by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), 90 per cent of spouses of H-1B holders were female, two-thirds being Indian while six percent being from China. This research suggested that expanding current work eligibility rules for spouses of H-1B holders could bring economic advantages as well as helping address labor shortages while drawing more workers in global competition for talent.

US District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued her ruling dismissing Save Jobs USA’s lawsuit which challenged an Obama-era regulation granting employment authorisation cards to spouses of certain H-1B visa holders. Her ruling was supported by Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft who all opposed it.

Judge Chutkan acknowledged Save Jobs USA’s argument that Congress never authorized DHS to permit foreign nationals, such as H-4 visa-holders, to work while staying in the US during their stay. She found this claim directly contradicted with both languages of the Immigration and Nationality Act as well as decades of executive branch practice endorsed both explicitly and implicitly by Congress.

DHS and its predecessors have long granted approvals of employment not only to students but also their spouses and dependents. She cited a recent D.C. Circuit decision stating that DHS’s obligation to grant authorizations of employment was upheld under INA.

Ajay Bhutoria

Recently, the US government granted work permits to Indian spouses of H-1B visa holders. This will help support their families.

Ajay Bhutoria, CEO and MD of Zensar Technologies in the US has expressed his appreciation for this decision in hopes that it will lead to a more compassionate and equitable immigration system.

He also stressed the need for an extension of the 60-day grace period for H1-B visa holders who lose their jobs, which currently allows only limited time for finding new work opportunities. An extension would give affected workers more time to deal with complex paperwork processes and transfer their H-1 b status, according to him.

Bhutoria informed members of the advisory commission in his presentation that H-1 B visa holders who have experienced job loss face various difficulties when finding new opportunities quickly, transferring their status, and dealing with complex paperwork at USCIS.

Bhutoria also noted the severe financial hardship experienced by H-1 b workers and their families, due to lost employment, medical bills and unexpected costs such as child care. He stressed the necessity of improving this situation for both H-1 b workers and their families.

The H-1 B program allows highly skilled foreign workers to come and work for US companies; however, until recently their spouses weren’t permitted to find employment here; which often put an undue financial strain on the families involved.

Now, however, this has been overturned by a court ruling in Washington state: A judge there ruled that spouses of H-1B visa holders can work and support their families by supporting a lawsuit filed by Save Jobs USA against Obama-era regulations that granted employment authorization cards for certain categories of H-1B holders’ spouses.

Ajay Bhutoria, an esteemed community leader and immigrant rights advocate, applauded this decision. He noted the significance of H-1B visa holders being permitted to work and support their families as an issue of economic justice and as an effective means of increasing stability and family cohesion.