Changes in H-4 visa rules unwise and unfortunate, says Nasscom

It will separate families and make talent acquisition more difficult in US, it said

The IT industry body Nasscom has termed US administration’s decision to revoke work permits of H-4 visa holders as “unwise and unfortunate” while stressing that it would force some families to separate.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has told a federal court that it plans to revoke the work permits of H-4 visa holders, who are primarily spouses of H-1B guest workers, within three months. The move is likely to impact thousands of skilled Indian-Americans and women working in the US on H-4 visas.

The National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) said spouses who are talented individuals themselves, have the potential to add great value to the United States economy. “Forcing them to stay out of the workforce wastes that talent and deprives local businesses of their skills and disposable income. Finally, it could force some families to separate rather than being able to stay together,” Nasscom said in a statement.

The industry body further said studies have shown that for every high-skilled worker who comes to the US on a high-skilled visa, more jobs are created for US workers. 
 

“Given that the goal of the high-skilled visa programs is to help grow the US economy and jobs, this move would be unwise and unfortunate on many levels,” it added.
 

The US under the Obama administration had allowed certain H-4 visa holders to gain employment in 2015. As per reports, as of December 25, 2017, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services had approved 1,26,853 applications for employment authorisation for H-4 visa holders. This count all approvals since May 2015 when the rule was implemented.

Nasscom said the high-skilled visa policy was put in place to help US companies attract and retain the high-skilled talent they need to grow and serve their customers. “This change would make talent acquisition for US companies more difficult,” it added.

The DHS and its US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) unit on 14 December 2017 had published a notice that they intend to propose several changes to the H-4 visa programs in 2018. One of these changes would affect the ability of certain spouses of H-1B visa holders to work while they are in the United States. In a recent letter to Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, USCIS Director Francis Cissna reiterated the agency's intention to propose a change to the H-4 rule.