The Trump administration in the United States is planning to revoke the 60-day grace period currently granted to foreign workers who lose their jobs in order to search for new employment.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which released this new draft rule on Friday under the title “Eliminating the Unconditional 60-Day Grace Period,” has invited public comments on it for the next 60 days.
If this rule is finalized and comes into effect, foreign nationals who lose their jobs in the United States will be required to leave the country immediately unless they obtain separate permission to continue staying in the U.S.
As a result, Indians working in large numbers in the United States are likely to be the ones most affected.
Companies in that country have been using the H-1B visa process to select talented technology professionals from around the world and employ them in the United States with high salaries. Through this program, many Indians have gone to the U.S. and are working in the information technology sector. Among them, those who perform well may be given the opportunity to receive a ‘green card’ for permanent residency.
In this context, under the policy of prioritizing Americans in U.S. employment, U.S. President Trump ordered in September last year that the H-1B visa fee be increased several-fold.
Accordingly, he ordered the H-1B visa fee, which had been between $2,000 and $5,000, to be raised to $100,000 per year. This fee increase came into effect from September 21 last year.
The U.S. Supreme Court, which heard the case filed against this, ordered the Trump administration’s hike of the H-1B entry permit (visa) fee to $100,000 a year (Rs. 96 lakh) to be annulled. This was seen as a major setback for the Trump administration.
In this situation, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has proposed a new rule to cancel the 60-day grace period currently granted to foreign workers in the United States who hold H-1B entry permits (visas) if they lose their jobs, giving them time to search for new employment.
Accordingly, the 60-day grace period granted to holders of nonimmigrant visas such as E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1, and TN, as well as to their dependents, who lose their jobs in the United States, is set to be revoked.
This 60-day grace period was introduced in 2016 to improve flexibility for highly skilled foreign workers to change jobs in the United States and to make it easier for U.S. companies to hire skilled foreign workers.