Relief for Indian techies as U.S. says no change in H-1B visa extension policy

In a relief to Indian techies, the United States authorities on Tuesday said the Trump administration was not considering any proposal that would force H-1B visa holders to leave the country.

The announcement by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) came days after reports emerged that the administration was considering tightening the H-1B visa rules that could lead to deportation of 7,50,000 Indians. The reports said the administration was mulling an end to extensions for H-1B visa holders.

The USCIS “is not considering a regulatory change that would force H-1B visa holders to leave the United States by changing interpretation of section certain language in Section 104 C of the American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act (AC21) statute that states that USCIS may grant the extensions,” an official said.

This provides for H-1B extensions beyond the six-year limit.

“Even if it were, such a change would not likely result in these H-1B visa holders having to leave the United States because employers could request extensions in one-year increments under section 106(a)-(b) of AC21 instead,” Jonathan Withington, Chief of Media Relations at the USCIS, said in a statement.

“The agency is considering a number of policy and regulatory changes to carry out the President’s Buy American, Hire American Executive Order, including a thorough review of employment based visa programmes,” Mr. Withington said.

The statement comes after last week’s news report by US-based news agency McClatchy DC Bureau, according to which the U.S. was considering new regulations to prevent the extension of H-1B visas, the most sought after by Indian IT professionals.

The USCIS was never considering such a policy change, he said adding that “any suggestion that USCIS changed its position because of pressure is absolutely false”.