The new year has brought a lot of changes in the immigration development of the US. This has created a lot of news in the first few days. There are a lot of things that are going to happen this year. You should make sure to be aware of all these changes as soon as you can.
2020 have a lot of potential for immigration programs and can be a big year for all those who want to get a work permit in the United States.
Some of them include:
USCIS Fees
After the new year, USCIS fees were increased and applying for a visa is getting expensive. According to the immigration bill, the visa fees may increase for the foreign workers who are working in the US under different programs.
For the starting, they are increasing by 22% in charge of the H1b speciality occupation visa petition. The problems of employers and employees were not limited to the increase in visa charges.
It is because the agency is proposing a cost of $4000 on employers every time they want to extend the visa of their visas. This charge will apply to the companies that have at least 50 US employees and have 50% or more employees working on an H1B visa.
It is a piece of bad news for both the employers and employees as both of them will have to face the consequences. Information technology companies need to extend the visas of their workers now and then. But now it is tough to spread the visas of all their employees. They are also proposing to increase the charge for h2A and H2B visas too.
H-4 Visa
According to the US government, there will be a program that will provide work permits to the families of people working on an H1B visa. It is a piece of exciting news for them as they can also contribute to their expenses and get the work permit to work in the US legally.
This proposal was proposed by the Homeland Security department and is under consideration by the authorities since February 2018. The agency has asked for the publically made a comment on the matter, and it is supposed to be made in the coming few months.
However, a lawsuit was filed citing that this program has increased job competition and does not have any benefit for society. The case is currently under review of the district court and will be announced in a short time.
If they retract the program, then a lot of females are going to be out of jobs that can put a severe effect on their life.
Optional Practical Training
The foreign graduates from US colleges and universities can work in the US under the Optional Practical training program. There is a chance that this program can get a stay order. And this thing may upset all those graduates who want to get the benefit of this program.
A lawsuit was filed by the US-born worker who believes that optional practical training is killing the opportunities for the main citizens of the United States. A federal judge in Washington agreed to proceed with the hearings of this lawsuit that can make some significant changes in this program.
There was another law passed on the period a graduate can work on the OPT visa. This change, along with the OPT program change, can bring a lot of problems for immigration and customs enforcement.
H-1B Changes
Pre-registration of the lottery for H-1B becomes March 1, 2020. Under this program, immigrants can enter this lottery that will give 85,000 H-1B visas that will become available by 1 Oct 2020.
The best thing about this change is that candidates do not need to prepare the full petition. Also, they do not require the supporting documents before their entry. It will help a lot of potential candidates to get the H-1B visas. The employers can also use this opportunity to get some better employees for them.
Five Major Changes in the H-1B Visa Program in 2019
However, some small companies may face problems with this change in the visa process. They will have to compete for the visas with the well-established companies. And their chances of getting potential employees may be compromised with this change.
There is going to be a new proposal that will restrict the eligibility of the best applicants for an H-1B speciality occupation. It was introduced considering the way all the agencies are using H-1b visa petitions.
DACA Decision
The decision on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program will be rule out in June. It will decide whether this program will legally end in the Donald Trump administration or not.
This program aims to provide deportation protections and work permits to those immigrants who came to the US. One of the survey group has reported that if the DACA is eliminated, then more than 30,000 recipients will lose jobs every month.
What is DACA Program in the US?
However, it depends upon the court whether they want to end this program or not. It is reported that the elimination of this program can affect the GDP of the country over the decade.
If all the DACA workers are removed from their jobs, then the GDP will get a drop of more than $400 Billion in the upcoming decade. A lot of workers are waiting for the decision so that they can plan their future according to the law.
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