Good News For Spouses & Family of H-1B Visa Holders in India: Details Here!  

A month after the suspension of work visas till December, the Trump administration recently announced that H1-B visa holders' spouses and dependents, can travel back to the United States (US). 

This big development comes days after a group of 174 Indian nationals, including seven minors filed a lawsuit against the US government on H-1B that would prevent them from entering the United States or a visa would not be issued to them.

This big relief comes to those who are presently stranded in India amid the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Business Standard report, the new development exempts them from the June 22 order that suspended non-immigrant visas over the economic crisis.

As per instructions, anyone with an H-1B, H4, J1 and H2A visa who did not hold a valid visa as of June 24 would not be allowed to travel to the country till December 31. Also, those who want to apply for the said visas can do so only when the US Embassy and consulates open in India, Economic Times reports. 

The US Embassy and consulates have been closed since March in India after the Indian government-imposed lockdown in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile media reports further state that, not all H-1B visa holders will be allowed back, only certain H and J visa applicants who are ‘traveling to work in support of a critical US foreign policy objective and/or traveling at the request of the US government; will be exempt from this ban, ET further reported. 

"The proclamation 10052's H-1B/H-4 visa ban hurts the United States' economy, separates families and defies the Congress. While the two former points render it unseemly, the latter point renders it unlawful," said the lawsuit filed by lawyer Wasden Banias on behalf of the 174 Indian nationals. 

The lawsuit in its order declared the presidential proclamation restriction on issuing new H-1B or H4 visas or admitting new H-1B or H-4 visa holders as unlawful. 

"In the administration of our nation's immigration system, we must remain mindful of the impact of foreign workers on the United States labor market, particularly in the current extraordinary environment of high domestic unemployment and depressed demand for labor," said the proclamation issued by Trump.