The move will be a blow to Indian workers
Hyderabad: Tightening their rules, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the US department of homeland security (DHS) have announced that people with temporary visas applying for permanent residency in the US must return to their home countries to apply for permanent visas.
The decision, announced on Friday, stated that the temporary visas should not be used as a stepping stone to acquire a permanent residency visa in the United States.
Commenting on the decision, USCIS spokesman Zach Kahler said: “We’re returning to the original intent of the law to ensure aliens navigate our nation’s immigration system properly. From now on, an alien who is in the US temporarily and wants a Green Card must return to their home country to apply, except in extraordinary circumstances. This policy allows our immigration system to function as the law intended instead of incentivising loopholes.”
The move will be a blow to Indian workers, especially the workers on H-1B and O-1 visas, and many people are rejecting the decision. Many of them complained that workers on O-1 or H-1B visas must stop working legally in the US, go back to their origin country and wait for years in the backlog to gain permanent residency in the US.
Authorities stated that previously temporary residents, who were rejected for permanent residency, used to stay back in the United States, and the new move will process permanent residency visas outside the US, allowing the rejected applicants to not enter the US.
“When aliens apply from their home country, it reduces the need to find and remove those who decide to slip into the shadows and remain in the US illegally after being denied residency,” spokesman Kahler added.
The USCIS said: “Non-immigrants, like students, temporary workers, or people on tourist visas, come to the US for a short time and for a specific purpose. Our system is designed for them to leave when their visit is over. Their visit should not function as the first step in the green card process.”
