US announces exemptions to visa ban, relaxes H1-B rules under 'national interest'

After drawing criticism over its visa ban move, the Trump administration has now announced some relaxations for the H1-B visa holders, allowing them to enter the country if returning to the same jobs they had secured before the proclamation of the visa ban. The US Department of State advisory has informed that the dependants of H1-B visa holders including spouses and children will also be allowed to travel along with them. 

Earlier on June 22, US President Donald Trump had signed the proclamation suspending entry of certain immigrant visa applicants including H1-B till December 31, 2020. The Trump administration had reasoned that immigrant employees take away the jobs for American citizens who require additional support due to the coronavirus situation in the country. 

Read - US Tech-giants Say Trump's Suspension Of Work Visas 'actually Harms' Country'

However, in the recent exceptions announced under ‘national interest’, the US government said that it does not apply to those who were already in the country on the effective date of proclamation, that is, June 24. 

US State Department said, “The Proclamation does not apply to applicants who were in the United States on the effective date of the Proclamation (June 24), or who had a valid visa in the classifications mentioned above (and plans to enter the United States on that visa), or who had another official travel document valid on the effective date of the Proclamation”.

“If an H-1B, H-2B, L-1, or J-1 non-immigrant is not subject to the Proclamation, then neither that individual nor the individual’s spouse or children will be prevented from obtaining a visa due to the Proclamation,” it added. 

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Lawsuit joined by tech giants against the proclamation

Amazon, Apple, and Facebook, among other US companies, had signed onto a court filing against US President Donald Trump’s move of restricting work visas for skilled workers including H1-B visas saying that it hurts the country.

According to the brief that was filed in a federal court on Monday in support of the suit by the US Chamber of Commerce and trade groups against the proclamation issued by Trump back in June, the suspension of non-immigrant visa programs ‘actually harms’ workers and economy that the US President supposedly wants to ‘protect’.  

Read - Amazon, Apple & Facebook Back Lawsuit Challenging Trump’s Suspension Of Work-visa Programs

Read - Democratic Lawmakers Write To Trump Adminsitration Over H-1B Visa Restrictions