The Hindu Business Line : US proposes changes in H-2B visa programme

WASHINGTON: The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced a series of proposed rule changes that will streamline procedures for hiring workers, including from India, under the H-2B visa programme. The USCIS has also called for not is suing the H-2B visas to citizens of countries that are determined to be consistently refusing or unreasonably delaying repatriation of their nationals from the US with deportation orders.

Eight countries, including India, China and Iran, have been identified by lawmakers early this year as falling in this category. Other nations are Laos, Eritrea, Vietnam, Jamaica and Ethiopia. Early this year, three Republican lawmakers had called for t he suspension of Visas to countries that have refused to accept deported aliens from the United States. The eight counties are said to have refused to repatriate a total of over 139,000 aliens.

Of this number more than 18,000 are said to be convicted criminals who have been released back into the streets. The Department of Homeland Security in announcing plans for revision of rules for the H-2B programme is now playing by the suggestions of law makers who have introduced legislations in the Senate and the House. The H-2B non-immigrant temporary worker program allows US employers to bring foreign nationals to America to fill non-agricultural temporary jobs for which US workers are not available and India is one of the countries from where workers are sourced. - PTI

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