Washington: The Indian IT professionals eyeing the American IT market have given a big shock to US President Donald Trump. Trump has now issued a new executive order regarding the H-1B visa, under which US federal agencies will not be able to hire on H-1B visas. In an executive order signed by Trump on Monday, US federal agencies will not be able to hire foreign workers coming to the US on H-1B visas on contracts or subcontracts.
These rules will be effective from June 24
The move comes nearly a month after the Trump administration ordered the suspension of H-1B visas and other visas on June 23, keeping in mind the interests of American workers in an election year. Visa related rules will be effective from June 24.
What is H-1B Visa
An H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa. This visa allows American companies to employ foreign professionals in theoretical or technical expertise. American technology companies depend on this visa to appoint tens of thousands of employees from countries like India and China each year. “I am signing an executive order today to ensure that the federal government will follow a simple rule – US citizens topped it,” Trump said in front of the media in his Oval Office of the White House before signing the order. Huh.
Trump also told reporters that his administration would not tolerate jobless Americans being sacked in search of cheap foreign workers. Trump made this statement to individuals campaigning against outsourcing, including Sarah Blackwell, founder and president of the Florida Protect US Workers Organization, Jonathan Hicks, a software engineer at the Tennessee Valley Authority, and Kevin Lin, founder of US Tech Workers in Pennsylvania.
The annual limit for H-1B visas in the US is 65,000 every financial year. Under this government order, all federal agencies will have to internal audit within 120 days to prove that they are appointing only American citizens in competitive services.
