H-1B Visa Ban:What do IT Professionals, Economists and Lawyers Think? - Report

US President Donald Trump’s order that suspends the H-1B and L-1 visa has received criticism from legal experts and industry bodies who think that the move is not economically beneficial. Reportedly, many immigration lawyers see this as a political move rather than an economic one. 

“This is just another shot at limiting immigration into the US, the economic justification being used by the Administration does not make sense... A majority of these workers are in the tech sector, which has one of the lowest unemployment in the US,” said Nandini Nair, immigration partner at law firm Greenspoon Marder told Economic Times. 

Trump said that the overall unemployment rate has been rising since February due to the lockdown that was imposed in order to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. He cited that more than 20 million US workers have lost their jobs in key industries where H-1B and L-1 workers are requesting to fill positions.

However, a study conducted by the National Foundation on American Policy highlights that the unemployment rate for individuals in computer occupations declined to 2.8% in April from 3% in January, whereas for other occupations it surged to 15% from 4.1% in the same period. The high number of visa petitions signed for computer application roles indicate that there is demand for high- tech skills in the US. 

“This proclamation reflects the politics of the moment than any cogent policy,” said Rajiv S Khanna, managing attorney at law firm Immigration.com while talking about the order. He also pointed out that L1 visa issued for intra-company transfer and hence it will not a position that companies hire for locally in the US. 

NASSCOM, India’s software industry body told the media that highly skilled non- immigrants who played critical roles, especially in the field of medical and healthcare services are an asset to the country. Cancellation of visa would worsen the situation and timeline for treatment & cure for COVID19 would get extended. It urged the country’s administration to reduce the duration of restriction to 90 days.

While some experts believe that this will have a profound impact on the Indian IT industry, others think that might not be the case. Many companies believe that this would encourage them to hire locally and wouldn’t make a lot of difference since companies are adopting to the ‘Work From Home’ model.