By Lalit K JhaWashington, Dec 13 (PTI) Foreign workers in the US on aH1B work visa, the most sought after among Indian ITprofessionals, may work for more than one company, thecountry's immigration agency has said.
The H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows UScompanies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupationsthat require theoretical or technical expertise. Thetechnology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands ofemployees each year from countries like India and China.
"In general, H1B workers may work for more than oneemployer but must have approved I-129 for each," the USCitizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the federalagency which receives and determines the successfulapplications for H1B visas, tweeted yesterday..
"New employer must submit an I-129 petition before youmay begin working," the USCIS said.
Form I-129 is a form submitted for a non-immigrant workerto the USCIS used by employers or prospective employers toobtain (or amend the details of) a worker on a non-immigrantvisa status.
While this is not a new rule, but very few people knowabout it.
The H1B visa has an annual numerical limit cap of 65,000visas each fiscal year as mandated by the Congress. The first20,000 petitions filed on behalf of beneficiaries with a USmaster's degree or higher are exempt from the cap.
Additionally, H1B workers who are petitioned for oremployed at an institution of higher education or itsaffiliated or related nonprofit entities or a nonprofitresearch organisation or a government research organisationare not subject to this numerical cap.
Meanwhile, an American think-tank, the Cato Institute ina report said that in 2015, a total of 56 per cent of allsupposed employment-based green cards went to the familymembers of workers. The other 44 per cent went to the workersthemselves.
If family members were exempted from the quota or therewas a separate green card category for them, an additional76,711 highly skilled immigrant workers could have earned agreen card in 2015 without increasing the quota.
According to the institute, about 85 per cent of thosewho received an employment-based green card in 2015 werealready legally living in the US.
"They were able to adjust their immigration status fromanother type of visa, like an H-1B or F visa, to anemployment-based green card. Exempting some or all of theadjustments of status from the green card cap would almostdouble the number of highly skilled workers who could enter,"it said.
In a blog post, Immigration Attorney Tsion Chudnovskysaid immigration lawyers are seeing a big change in how visasare being processed in 2017 and many expect denial rates toincrease to 40 per cent in this year's H1B cap. The USCIS hasstarted challenging H1Bs which would have no problem beingapproved in the past, she said. PTI LKJ AMS AKJAMS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.