US Suspends Visas Allowing Hundreds of Thousands of Foreigners

US President Donald Trump has temporarily suspended new work visas and barred hundreds of thousands of foreigners from seeking employment in the United States, part of a broad effort to limit the entry of immigrants into the country.

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Key-Points

Trump blocked visas for a wide variety of jobs, including those for computer programmers and other skilled workers who enter the country under the H-1B visa.

Popular work visas including the much-coveted H-1B and H-2B, and certain categories of H-4, J, and L visas shall also remain suspended until December 31.

The suspension will not affect those already in the US on the visas. The Optional Practical Training (OPT) that most foreign students are eligible for after they graduate in the US also remains unaffected.

The move, US President Donald Trump said, was to protect domestic workers who had been impacted due to a contraction in the economy in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

H-1B visa

The H-1B is a visa in the United States under the Immigration and Nationality Act, section 101(a)(15)(H) that allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations.

A specialty occupation requires the application of specialized knowledge and a bachelor’s degree or the equivalent of work experience.

The duration of stay is three years, extendable to six years; after which the visa holder may need to reapply.

Laws limit the number of H-1B visas that are issued each year: 188,100 new and initial H-1B visas were issued in 2019.

Employers must generally withhold Social Security and Medicare taxes from the wages paid to employees in H-1B status.