Controversial changes in the rule regarding issuing the H-1B visas has been scrapped by the US Department of Homeland Security. The controversial change which proved to be a hindrance to the international students seeking employment in the US after their graduation has been changed and as per the officials, the new rule will be effective from March 9, 2022. This is to prioritise the applicants with higher salaries instead of the existing lottery system.
This H-1B visa is one of the “highly coveted” ones among the international graduate students seeking professional opportunities in the US as it allows the US companies or organisations to hire international students seeking employment right after their graduation.
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Referring to the eradication of the rule as a “great news”, Miriam Feldblum, the Executive Director at the President’s Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, stated that, “The President’s Alliance has been advocating for the withdrawal of the proposed rule since it was first introduced under the previous administration.”
Introduced during the time of former President Donad Trump, with the contemporary USCIS Deputy Director for Policy, Joseph Edlow, the program was referred to as “exploited” by the employers mainly seeking to fill the entry-level positions in January, 2021.
During the course of the potential legal changes, the President’s Alliance joined as a plaintiff and accused the “arbitrary and capricious” rule of “conflicting with the Immigration and Nationality Act.”
Another allegation was that the Final Rule should have been set aside as it turned out that Chad H. Wolf, nominated as acting secretary for the DHS in place of Kirstjen Nielsen, was not serving legally. This was decided by the California Northern District Court on September 15, 2021. As per Jill Allen Murray, the Deputy Executive Director for Public Policy at NAFSA, since Wolf was the one to consider the Final Rule, her illegal activity made it impossible for her to do .
“NAFSA contends that international student graduates need a way to access a path to green cards, if they desire to stay in the US permanently and if there is an employer willing to offer them a permanent position, rather than the international student graduate having to rely on an H-1B lottery for work authorisation,” she further added.
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USCIS or the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services received more than 300,000 H-1B registration requisitions during 2021. In spite of the hardships present, the H-1B visa has remained the most coveted one because of many reasons. The withdrawal of the problematic rule regarding this, therefore, is believed to encourage many prospective international students to apply for study and employment in the US. Moreover, this news is supposed to boost the confidence of the students already living in the US.
With the help of more legislative and administrative authorities, the President’s Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration has further promised to cautiously monitor the upcoming rules and regulations around the H-1B visas in the future for the sake of the international students.
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