US Federal Court Cancels All Proposed New H-1B Visa Rules:

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"The US Federal Court recently scrapped all the H-1B Visa rules implemented during the Trump Administration. The Trump administration put certain restrictions on the H-1B Visa program to protect American workers during the uncertainty of the pandemic."

Written by My Visa Source Team
Published on: Oct 16, 2021

The US Federal Court recently scrapped all the H-1B Visa rules implemented during the Trump Administration. The Trump administration put certain restrictions on the H-1B Visa program to protect American workers during the uncertainty of the pandemic.

Several business organizations, especially tech groups, complained that these restrictions were making it harder for them to hire international graduates. It also reduced the popularity of the US for international students as study destinations as these restrictions reduced their ability to get a job after graduation.

The US Federal Court turned down all the proposed Trump-era H-1B Visa rules, including the one that would change the program from a lottery to a high-wage prioritization system. This ruling will be extremely beneficial for international students in the US, especially East Indian and Chinese STEM students looking for job opportunities in the US.

How Does the H-1B Visa Work?

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) offers around 65,000 H-1B Visas every year, with an additional 20,000 visas for Master’s students in the US. Since the program receives way more applications than the set limit, the selection is done by a random lottery. The proposed wage prioritization rule by the Trump Administration would have made it very difficult for physicists, microbiologists, and medical scientists, among other STEM professionals to gain H-1B Visas since their wages are lower than the required H-1B wage levels.

What Was the Lawsuit in the Federal Court?

The US Chamber of Commerce, along with universities and healthcare firms filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration’s directives, resulting in a temporary stay order on the proposed rules. The organization argued that the new rules violated the Immigration and Nationality Act that states that a noncitizen should be issued an H-1B Visa, provided that they have been petitioned for such a visa.

In September 2021, Judge Jeffery White of the Northern California District court stated that the new wage prioritization rule was invalid because it violated the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). Since Chad Wold, the acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary, was appointed to that position without following due process, the new rule authorization by him during his appointment will be considered invalid.

This was the third such lawsuit filed by the US Chamber of Commerce and other organizations such as the Bay Area Council, Cornell University, and the National Association of Manufacturers against the proposed H-1B Visa rules.