The Joe Biden administration has announced relaxation of H1B visa terms just a few weeks before Donald Trump steps back into the White house. The new H1B rules aim to enforce a strict check on employers and provide relaxation for students. This change is expected to bring a huge relief to Indian students seeking to fill vacant positions for specialised roles in the United States.
First, let’s look at what H1B visas are. An H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows American companies to employ foreign workers in occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. India and China are some of the top countries from where the companies hire.
The rule updated by the Department of Homeland Security aims to provide flexibility to both employers and workers. The new rules will take effect from January 17th 2025, just three days before President-elect Donald Trump takes oath.
The employers will have to provide proof of the vacant specialised positions.
The updated guidelines will extend to students holding F1 visas seeking to change their status to H1B visas. This will avoid disturbances in lawful status and employment authorisation as there will be automatic extensions. It will make the transition to jobs easier.
Non-profit and research organisations will now be eligible for H1B visa cap exemptions.
The changes will allow US Citizenship and Immigration services to process applications faster.
The applicants will now have to fill out updated Form I-129 for applications.
Mostly, the acceptance is random and lottery based.
Will Donald Trump continue with the visa restrictions?
If one goes by Trump’s past stance, he believes in putting ‘America first’. During his first term, he implemented several measures that tightened immigration. A rise in visa denial rates was noted. The denial rate grew from 3.2% under Obama’s presidency to 18% under Trump.
But experts believe that tech giant and Trump’s close friend Elon Musk might push Trump to issue more visa applications. His company obtained 724 H1B visas in 2024.
How many Indians have been issued H1B visas under Joe Biden?
In the last four years, more than 78% of the top paid H-1B applicants were from India.
Among the Indians whose wage rate exceeded $1 million per year, over 25% were women.
In 2023, Indians made up 72.3% of the 386,000 H-1B visas issued.
