US makes renewal of H1-B Visa more difficult as part of Trump's 'Buy American, Hire American' strategy

Even after External Affairs minister, Sushma Swaraj said a couple of days ago that she had raised the issue of H1B visa with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the new Trump administration memo regarding these visas has been completely antithetical. The H-1B visa is issued to high-skilled non-Americans to work at US companies for a span of three years, after which it can be renewed. US receives about 85,000 applications for H-1B visa along with the L-1 every year, and is especially popular with Indian IT professionals.  

Under the previous policy, if a person was eligible and received the H-1B visa, it became highly likely that their visa would be considered for renewal three years later. However, overturning the earlier directive, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has now put the burden of proof of eligibility on the petitioner. It essentially means that very time the applicant approaches the USCIS for extension, they will have to prove their eligibility all over again, making the renewal as gruelling as the initial application process.  

"The burden of proof in establishing eligibility is, at all times, on the petitioner," the USCIS said.

Moreover, this change has been made not only for new visa applicants but also retroactively for people already living in the US.

This move comes as a part of Trump's 'Buy American, Hire American' strategy. President Trump has always been very vocally critical about the H-1B that he believes is abused by foreigners to take over jobs of American workers.

On the other hand, Sushma Swaraj spoke to Tillerson about the H-1B visa as it would help strengthen India-US ties. A report in Times of India mentions that Swaraj, talking about their discussion, said, "This is most evident in our mutually beneficial digital partnership, driven by our skilled professionals. In this regard, we have also discussed the very significant contribution to the US economy of Indian skilled professionals who travel and work under the H1-B and L-1 visa programmes."

Not only H-1B and L-1, Trump administration has also tightened the processes for TN visa, which is for Canadian and Mexican citizens as well as the O-1 visa, issued to those with 'extraordinary abilities'.