Biden keeps promise on H-1B visa rule

As promised,hours after getting sworn in as president of the United States, Joe Biden has reversed some of the decisions made by Trump administration regarding H-1B visa program.

The White House Chief of Staff, in a memorandum, said all the rules published by Department of Labor (DOL) in the Federal Register, but not taken effect, will be postponed for 60 days. Rules that have not been published in it will be withdrawn immediately for review and approval.

On January 12, the DOL had published the rule that would scrap prevailing computerized lottery system to grant H-1B work visas to foreign technology professionals and replace it with wage and skill-based selection process.

As per the modified H-1B selection process employers need to offer higher salaries for higher-skilled positions and establish a more certain path for businesses to achieve personnel needs and remain globally competitive.

According to the Economic Times, the employer-employee relationship in the H-1B non-immigrant visa program, will no longer be valid as it has not been published in the Federal Register.

The rule which was proposed by the US Department of Labor (DOL) on January 14 had made it mandatory for customers of US-based companies, that sponsor H-1B visa holders, to bear the obligations of an employer. Therefore the customers who hire H-1B workers from primary companies would also have to file for Labor Condition Applications (LCAs) and H-1B applications (referred to as petitions).