H-1B uncertainty keeps Bengali diaspora worried

KOLKATA: Twenty-something Namrata Banerjee (name changed) had moved to New York in 2011 to pursue her undergraduate studies in product design. Today, her fate hangs in balance because of the visa uncertainty.
In 2015, Banerjee was granted a one-year work visa called OPT.

“During my OPT, I started working for a company that applied for my H-1B in 2016. Unfortunately, I did not make the lottery,” she said. She then took up a certificate course at University of California, Los Angeles, for a year. The same company again applied for her H-1B visa in 2017. The wait was excruciating and Banerjee had to take a tough personal call during that time. “If you travel outside the country while your visa is pending, the application is automatically considered abandoned. So, when my grandfather passed away in Kolkata, I wasn’t able to attend his funeral,” she said.

In 2017, she received a request for evidence (RFE) letter that is often needed to make a decision on an H-1B case. But her application was eventually rejected. “At present, I am enrolled in classes and looking into other options, like an investor visa, to continue living here,” Banerjee said.

According to Jamie Dragon, director, American Center, Kolkata, “The H-1B programme was created more than 25 years ago to help the US economy meet a temporary need for skilled workers. It is currently under review. Although at present Indians receive the overwhelming majority of H-1Bs, the programme is not designed for any single country. The H-1B visa is a worldwide programme that was created to meet the needs of the US economy. The US government is hearing from all stakeholders, including employers and workers. At this time, there have been no major changes to the H-1B visa programme.”

But the Bengali diaspora remains tense. According to US-based attorney Amy Ghosh, who is the CEO of Law Offices of Amy Ghosh and specializes in immigration,

“Getting H-1B visas have been very difficult for a few years as the applicants need to go through lottery. Since last year, the process has become more difficult as many visas were rejected on grounds of the applicants’ jobs not qualifying as specialty occupation.” Ghosh is aware of Banerjee’s predicament, as well as of others who have finished their studies but couldn’t get their H-1B visas. “They can either go back home or stay enrolled just to maintain the student visas and keep on taking classes,” Ghosh explains.

Last year, the US department of homeland security had said a law was on the cards to end work authorization of dependent spouses holding H4 visas. The new law, if implemented, would affect spouses of H-1B visa holders.

When Dragon was asked if the US was withdrawing permission for spouses of H-1B visa holders to work, he said, “We are aware of reports, but there has been no formal announcement of a change. We cannot speculate on what might happen.”

Under such circumstances, Ghosh believes that more and more Bengalis might now opt for Canada.

“Or they can try to get investor visas, which are still available and could be a better option when migrating to the US,” Ghosh says.