By Sharanya Gopinathan
Several news outlets reported yesterday on the panic that holders of the H1B temporary work visa to the United States are feeling after a draft of a proposed executive order decreeing a crackdown on such visas was leaked by news agencies. Outlets like Buzzfeed and CNN even stylishly reported that India was “freaking out” over the proposed changes. The changes are thought to include, among others, a doubling of the minimum salary required for H1B visa to $130,000 and making a US Masters degree mandatory for H1B visa holders.
What many outlets forgot to mention though, was the impact the proposed executive order might have on holders of the H4 visa, issued to spouses of H1B visa holders. Until very recently, those on the H4 visa weren’t allowed work in the United States, which naturally meant that they were “excluded from the labour market, and that their legal and financial status was tied to that of their spouses’ immigration status”. Ninety percent of H4 visa holders are women, often highly educated and skilled spouses of employees in the IT sector. Being on the H4 visa meant that these women were virtually imprisoned, and it was after extensive coverage of their position that in May 2015, H4 visa holders were finally allowed to apply for Employment Authorization Documents to work in the United States.
If the word on the street is true though, the proposed visa crackdown could mean that H4 visa holders (80 percent of whom are Indian) will have their much sought-after right to work in the United States heavily curtailed or removed entirely, reverting them to living under a highly restrictive visa regime. As seems to be the case with anything that Donald Trump does now, we just have to hold our breath, hope for the best and expect the absolute worst.
February 2, 2017 at 12:02 am
Hi,
The title is gender biased. I am a women on H1B and my husband is on H4. I know some strong women who share the situation. Apprecite making the article gender neutral.
February 2, 2017 at 12:52 am
I would say giving priority to students is more important than this. Spouses have the option of enrolling themselves in a university , then getting a job and eventually getting an H1b themselves, thus decreasing their reliance on the status of their spouses.
Why would they be able to compete freely in the job market, when students have to go through the lottery system? If you want everyone to compete, make sure they have equal standing.
February 2, 2017 at 1:24 am
I completely agree with raising the bars for H-1B. But it is harsh to mandate that their spouses should take the H-1B route if they would like to work. Some of the H4 holders have worked in the past but once they get married, asking them to go back to the schools is unfair.
Bring only the best and brightest via H-1B but treat their spouses fairly.
Also don’t cause panic by floating articles around rumors that you come across. There are already many of them. Also if you can point the readers to your source of information, it will be of great help!
February 2, 2017 at 1:38 am
Why not study further if that helps..I have seen quite a lot of spouses (from India) just trying to get married to someone (that too they specifically ask for a partner with I-140 approval ) so that they can come here, get an EAD and make easy money. They seem to come and compete with students out here who have worked hard for two or 3 years and end up getting an upper hand just because employers are not ready to go through the lottery and the immigration hassle of H1b.
I don’t mind the spouses EAD as long as international students get an equal footing in terms of jobs. or atleast make sure the spouses have a graduate degree like all the other students.
I think most spouses can afford to get a educational degree and get an H1b by themselves, if needed.
February 2, 2017 at 3:37 am
livefireuser subperi I am not sure about how much someone can plan their life and spouse around an approved I140. But there may be a few cases. Assuming all the high skilled H-1B workers would be married to a person who is highly skilled or atleast has the potential to become one is not a reality. They should be given the right to enter the job market as I said go ahead and raise the bar of H-1B workers as much as you want.
February 2, 2017 at 8:18 am
I am US citizen last five/six years went to cosmetology school here and earned license. And then start working, being single mom I had to work hard and at a times I had to worked for two salons and take care of my baby. I still dont have big chunk of money to open up my own salon. At the same time when I see all these indian depend (H4) women who start salons right in there homes, make very good money perfectly illegally. Where being American citizen and legally licensed I can not work from home. And have my own business. Bit these illegal women can and government does not take any action about it. Should I complain about it?? If Trump won’t do anything about it the America will soon be just like India or Pakistan…
February 2, 2017 at 8:40 am
leenart09 Authorizing them to work would encourage them to come out and work for small business owners like you rather than competing with you. If what you are saying is true, may be they do it as they are imprisoned at home?
February 2, 2017 at 9:46 am
All I know is they are already doing it illegally which I can’t do even being American citizen. Which is not at all right.
February 2, 2017 at 9:59 am
leenart09 The bottomline is you don’t need a H4 visa to go wrong. One can choose to obey law or go against it. It is a choice that they make and if there are consequences, they face it.
Apart from that cosmetology is a very competitive sector as there are plenty of salons that are run legally and I am pretty sure you will have to face a stiff competition from them. But thats is the reality in every business.
February 2, 2017 at 10:19 am
Thank you, I didn’t ask you what I have to face. I am and will do my best. I just wish, they face their consequences, who don’t follow law but wants to have very quick n easy money here.
February 2, 2017 at 11:17 am
subperi livefireuser Well if they arent highly skilled as you say, then they should focus on improving their skills through education. If not they lose out in the current scenario and the competition.If it is true meritocracy, they should give more priority to students than spouses.
How does one get more easy access to opportunity by the virtue of their marriage than merit.
As I said, H4 spouses can be given an EAD, provided they are on par in education with the graduate students or if the students themselves are given an equal footing. Alllow everyone to compete equally and see who wins out.
February 2, 2017 at 11:20 am
leenart09 I agree what they are doing is illegal and you have the right to report them. but as subperi says, you need not be on H4 to cheat the system.
If you see any other US citizen doing such businesses without a license, would you report them as well? If not, you are prejudiced and have a sense of entitlement.
February 2, 2017 at 11:28 am
livefireuser subperi Okay. I am talking about the people in H4 who can do teaching, nursing, interior design, real estate agents, run a restaurant etc if they are legally allowed. They aren;t competing with any students.
To avoid exploitation, jobs should be clearly categorized and H4 spouses with EAD can be prohibited from competing directly with certain other professionals.
February 3, 2017 at 1:41 am
leenart09 complain about that to the free market philosophy that was being preached by America to the rest of the world. why is it so suddenly you realize that free market is not good for you.
February 3, 2017 at 3:09 am
VidyaSagarRao leenart09 VidyaSagarRao She didnt seem to complain about the free markets. She seemed to complain about the illegality of practicing such businesses without license or regulation
February 3, 2017 at 3:09 am
leenart09 What did you mean by this statement?
February 3, 2017 at 3:52 am
foonty livefireuser subperi Please be civil in your converation. If you cant be polite in expressing your views, none would bother to reply to the point you made. I flagged you as being offensive.
February 3, 2017 at 5:12 am
livefireuser foonty what was not civilized and impolite in what I wrote? I also flagged you for getting offended for no reason.
February 3, 2017 at 5:17 am
foonty livefireuser “pussies like you should not be allowed to work in The US”
This is not civility. This is passing judgement on someone while having a rational conversation.
Do you know anything about me to call me cowardly? If thats what you meant.
February 3, 2017 at 5:22 am
livefireuser foonty yes, you are entitled to your opinion that spouses eligible for H4 EAD are inferior and have less merit than “US educated students”. That makes me entitled to think that you are a pussy who is afraid of competition.
February 3, 2017 at 5:27 am
foonty livefireuser Did you even see my responses?
Did I ever say less merit. I said provide equal footing for both spouses and students to compete. I never compared the two and said either of them have less merit unlike you who generalized all of MS students to be just average.
Apparentely you dont seem to have heard of Top silicon valley companies recruiting MS students from colleges.
February 3, 2017 at 5:33 am
livefireuser foonty Did I say all MS students? I said many. This is my comment:
“Many people with US MS degree don’t deserve jobs here and are just average. ”
This is your comment pussy:
“If it is true meritocracy, they should give more priority to students than spouses.”
February 3, 2017 at 7:15 am
Name calling again. I am not going to reciprocate name calling to maintain my dignity and standards
Between this is the definition of meritocracy. Understand the context in which the statement applies.
” In government or other administration systems, meritocracy, in an administrative sense, is a system of government or other administration (such as business administration) wherein appointments and responsibilities are assigned to individuals based upon their “merits”, namely intelligence, credentials, and education, determined through evaluations or examinations.”
I also told that if spouses have equal graduate degrees they should be given an EAD to compete with students.
The American govt has understood and value of education and has already allotted 20000 visas to ppl with advanced degrees. That’s the value of education.
February 3, 2017 at 7:30 am
I am glad and very happy that president Trump has some sense to not take away jobs from their own citizens and giving it to outsiders. I am glad he wants to stop people from working on H4 visas.
February 3, 2017 at 7:53 am
phew Name calling again. Guess the only thing you can do well is name calling .
You were not even able to give proper contradictions for meritocracy statement. I guess you haven’t even seen the word before.
No dignity in debating with an abusive and ill informed person. Goodbye .
February 3, 2017 at 8:36 am
🙂 thank you…finally. Debate is just a modified version of argument, word war, war… Actions are far better. And so I am in love with our president.. Thank you again
February 3, 2017 at 9:36 am
What do you know about science and technology that I should debate about the merits of having immigrants work in tech field in the US? Definitely there is abuse by Indian IT companies but legal immigration for high tech employment is the reason why US is so technically advanced. You think you have enough Americans studying science and math? Every been to an engineering school? Check the grad school there. It’s full of Indians and Chinese. Then think about this situation, that why we ended up here. Because we like what we do and are good at it.
There are so many of us so obviously there will be bad apples. Trump should make the policy to prevent abuse. USA can’t just stop hitting foreigners for high tech jobs.
And H4 EAD is available to a fraction of spouses who are on a path to green card. You are clearly worried about competition. If you find a person doing illegal stuff report him/her. Don’t whine on internet otherwise it makes you sound like a whiner who blames everything on immigrants.
February 3, 2017 at 10:11 am
Really, then why are you whining and debating so much here..:) You Indians are very good at putting others down to climb up, in rat racing, careless about others and self centered people. This education you guys get in India from childhood. India itself is a proof of it.
February 3, 2017 at 12:55 pm
I’m not whining but telling you facts. I can’t stand people who “beach” about not doing well in their career and blame everything on immigrants. You feel entitled to having a good job without during hard and then don’t wanna compete with immigrants.
And now since you have already stereotyped Indians, I must tell you that in India we have struggle a lot and we value education in STEM fields which you don’t care about whole getting your AA diploma. That’s why we are able to find tech jobs and you are exfoliating dead skin.
So better go home and learn better ways to exfoliate dead skin on your customers face than whine about how illegal Indian H4s are doing illegal jobs. If you see one report to DHS. If you don’t do that your a bad citizen. Be competitive.
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