Amidst Ban, US Starts Accepting Visa Applications For 2018

Amidst the visa ban surrounding the United States after President Donald Trump passed an order of banning the H1B1 visas for the foreign nationals, the US has started accepting the applicants for H-1B work visas for fiscal 2018 from April.

Though there’s still uncertainty about the duration of accepting the visa application as the official announcement by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) did not specifically specify the last date for accepting the applications.

In general, the department accepts the application for the first five business days

In the last few years, the department has received enough petitions to fill in the Congressional mandated 85,000 H-1B visas. Limiting the number of visas issued, the Congressional mandated to 65,000 in the general category and another 20,000 for the foreign students who have Masters or Higher degree from a US academic institution.

For those who had to seek the US visa on H-1B are exempted on certain grounds like people coming for research and scientific institutions. But their visa processing is handicapped this year as the premium processing has been suspended by USCIS for six months.

USCIS’s announcement also reflects that there are no changes in H-1B visas+ this year as was being anticipated in view of some media leaks of a proposed executive order on this work visa.

White House says it is working on a comprehensive immigration reform.

Unlike India, in the US the fiscal year for 2018 will begin on October 1, 2017.
USCIS said H-1B programme allows companies in the US to temporarily employ foreign workers in occupations that require the application of a body of highly specialised knowledge and a bachelor’s degree or higher in the specific speciality, or its equivalent.

H-1B speciality occupations may include fields such as science, engineering and information technology.