As expected, President Joe Biden has decided to put on hold recent decisions taken by the Donald Trump administration including the two rulings on h1B visas.
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In a memorandum issued on the first day of the new Presidency, the White House Chief of Staff said ." With respect to rules that have been published in the Federal Register, or rules that have been issued in any manner, but have not taken effect, consider postponing the rules’ effective dates for 60 days from the date of this memorandum."
"With respect to rules that have been sent to the Office of the Federal Register (OFR) but not published in the Federal Register, immediately withdraw them from the OFR for review and approval," it said. The memorandum is applicable to all such decisions by the Trump administration but from India's point of view the biggest impact of this will be on the H1b visa rules.
On January 12, the Department of Labour (DOL) had published an advance copy of a final rule that changes how prevailing wage levels will be computed for purposes of permanent labour certifications. This rule will increase wage costs for most tech companies.
On Friday, January 15, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) quietly issued a new rule that will broaden the employer-employee relationship’s definition.
Both these decisions by the earlier Trump administration would have impacted Indian techies and tech companies.