Close X
Sunday, January 12, 2025
ADVT 
International

US Lawmakers Ask Trump Administration To Reconsider Its Decision On H4 Visas

IANS, 30 Apr, 2018 12:22 PM
  • US Lawmakers Ask Trump Administration To Reconsider Its Decision On H4 Visas
A group of 15 influential lawmakers from California has urged the Trump administration to reconsider its move to revoke an Obama-era rule that gives work permits to spouses of certain categories of H-1B visas, the most sought-after among Indian IT professionals.
 
 
The lawmakers asserted that the existing H-4 rule was a matter of both economic competitiveness and maintaining family unity.
 
 
“The H-4 rule lessened the burden on thousands of H1-B recipients and their families while they transition from non-immigrants to lawful permanent residents by allowing their families to earn dual incomes. Many entrepreneurs used their EADs to start businesses that now employ US citizens,” they said in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen M Nielsen.
 
 
“Eliminating this benefit removes an important incentive for highly skilled immigrants to remain here to invest in and grow our economy to the benefit of all Americans,” the lawmakers said.
 
The letter came amidst reports that the Trump Administration was planning to approach the court to inform that it had decided to rescind the Obama-era executive order which gave work permits to spouses of certain categories of H-1B visas. The order has not been rescinded yet.
 
 
The lawmakers did not say if they had received any response from Nielsen.
 
 
The lawmakers said that until 2015, the spouses of many highly skilled H-1B visa holders were left out, unable to contribute financially to their family or pursue their own professional goals because they did not have permission to work.
 
 
 
“It can take decades for these immigrants and their families to receive green cards and the Department of Homeland Security extended eligibility for employment authorisation to certain H-4 dependent spouses because it recognised the economic hardship facing the families of many H1-B workers who needed dual incomes to survive in high-cost areas,” the letter said.
 
 
“In many areas where these high-tech professionals live, such as Silicon Valley, it is nearly impossible for a family to live on one income,” it said.
 
 
Since the H-4 rule was implemented three years ago for spouses of highly skilled immigrants, over 100,000 workers, mainly women, were finally granted permission to work and contribute to their households and the US economy, it said.
 
 
“The H-4 rule is a matter of both economic competitiveness and maintaining family unity. The US has already invested in these workers with years of expertise and we should not be sending them abroad to innovate and use their experience and talents against US businesses,” the letter said.
 
 
Last week, Indian American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal and Congressman Ro Khanna told community leaders that they opposed the decision of the Trump Administration to terminate the Obama-era work permits to spouses of H-1B visa holders.
 
 
“I oppose the move. I am on a bipartisan Bill that seeks to ensure work permits for spouses. It is also a question of countering domestic violence. Because most of these spouses are women, in the absence of economic independence, they become vulnerable,” Khanna said at an event organised by the US India Friendship Council.
 
 
 
 
“I oppose the move to terminate work permits to H-4 visas. Women who are just as qualified, sometimes more qualified than their spouses but haven’t been able to work,” Jayapal said.
 
 
With the future of thousands of Indian professional, mostly women, at stake, the Indian Embassy here is believed to have taken up the matter very strongly with the Trump Administration and US lawmakers.
 
 
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order for tightening the rules of the H-1B visa programme to stop “visa abuses” last year. 

MORE International ARTICLES

Dawood Ibrahim In Pakistan, Brother Iqbal Tells Thane Cops

Fugitive mafia don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar wants to return to India and is negotiating a settlement with the BJP-led government at the Centre, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena President Raj Thackeray said here on Thursday.

Dawood Ibrahim In Pakistan, Brother Iqbal Tells Thane Cops

Historic India Club In London Fights For Survival

Historic India Club In London Fights For Survival
The India Club in London, a hub for Indian nationalists in the UK during the independence movement in the 1930s and 40s, is fighting for its survival after plans emerged for the building to be demolished internally.

Historic India Club In London Fights For Survival

Short-Range Nuclear Weapons To Counter India's 'Cold Start Doctrine': Pakistan PM

Short-Range Nuclear Weapons To Counter India's 'Cold Start Doctrine': Pakistan PM
Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said on Thursday his country has developed short-range nuclear weapons to counter the 'cold start doctrine' adopted by the Indian Army.

Short-Range Nuclear Weapons To Counter India's 'Cold Start Doctrine': Pakistan PM

'Sikhs Ethnically Different From Indians': 100 UK MPs Back Non-Indian Ethnic Identity Move For Sikhs

'Sikhs Ethnically Different From Indians': 100 UK MPs Back Non-Indian Ethnic Identity Move For Sikhs
However, Khalistan campaigners in Britain are divided over whether Sikhs are ethnically different from Indians. Lord Indarjit Singh, a member of the House of Lords looked upon as an authority on Sikh affairs, maintains they are not.

'Sikhs Ethnically Different From Indians': 100 UK MPs Back Non-Indian Ethnic Identity Move For Sikhs

Sikh Family In Australia Wins Case Over Son Wearing Turban To Christian School

Sikh Family In Australia Wins Case Over Son Wearing Turban To Christian School
A Sikh family in Australia on Tuesday won a legal battle against a Christian school which refused to enrol their five-year-old son because of his turban.

Sikh Family In Australia Wins Case Over Son Wearing Turban To Christian School

Rahul Gandhi To Address Public Meeting In New York

Rahul Gandhi To Address Public Meeting In New York
Congress party Vice President Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to address a public meeting here on Wednesday arranged by the the party's overseas wing as part of its push to enlist Non-resident Indians (NRIs).

Rahul Gandhi To Address Public Meeting In New York