Relief to Indian professionals as US announces exemptions in H-1B visa ban

The relaxation is likely to help Indian tech workers and healthcare professionals and their family members, who have been also included.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows American companies to recruit foreign professionals for speciality operations that demand theoretical and technical expertise. Every year, thousands of Indian and Chinese workers are employed by American companies for jobs in these categories.

President Donald Trump imposed the ban in June arguing that entry of foreign workers will threaten the job prospect of the natives amid the Covid-19 crisis.

The State Department issued the revised travel advisory on Wednesday stating that the exceptions have been issued under the national interest category. It said that H-1B and L-1 visas can now be issued for employees who are "seeking to resume ongoing employment in the United States in the same position with the same employer and visa classification", adding that forcing employers to recruit new workforce can inflict financial hardship on them.

The H-1B visa holders employed in the health care sector, especially in Covid-19 related or in medical research work in areas having special public health benefits- like cancer or communicable disease research - are also exempted.

It is worth noting that several lawmakers, in the past few weeks, had written to the US Secretary of state to exempt the healthcare sector from the travel restrictions on H-1B, L1 and J1 visas.

In the revised advisory, the state department has imposed some preconditions to qualify for the exemptions.

Of the five indicators, at least two should be met--one of them being the foreign professional should "make significant and unique contributions to an employer meeting a critical infrastructure need", and their wage rate should be at least 15 per cent higher than the prevailing wage rate indicating that the employee fulfills an important business need within the petitioning company where an American worker is not available.

Companies with L1A visas, looking to open new offices in the United States, must employ, directly or indirectly, employ five or more US citizens in the new office, the State Department said.