President Donald Trump has extended the freeze on the primary employment (H-1B) visas and other types of foreign work visas by three months to protect American workers, saying although therapeutics and Covid-19 vaccines are recently available, their effect on the labour market and community health has not yet been fully realized.
The suspension also applies to H-2B, H-4, and L-1, as well as certain categories of J-1 visas.
Trump said the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) “continues to significantly disrupt Americans’ livelihoods. While the November overall unemployment rate in the United States of 6.7% reflects a marked decline from its April high, there were still 9,834,000 fewer seasonally adjusted nonfarm jobs in November than in February of 2020. “
The freeze on various work visas came into force after the Trump administration enforced it in June. The original embargo on employment visa was to expire on December 31, 2020.
The decision to continue the freeze deals a blow to Indian aspirants and US companies seeking to hire foreign nationals and especially those seeking to hire technology experts.
