Its finally gaining traction!
DHS Reforms To Attract And Retain Highly Skilled Immigrants.
'The President is deeply committed to fixing our broken immigration system so that it meets our 21
st
century national security and economic needs. As a part of
comprehensive immigration reform, the President supports legislative
measures that would attract and retain immigrants who create jobs and
boost competitiveness here in the U.S., including creating a "Startup
Visa," strengthening the H-1B program, and "stapling" green cards to the
diplomas of certain foreign-born graduates in science, technology,
engineering, and math (STEM) fields. Together these actions would help
attract new businesses and new investment to the U.S. and ensure that
the U.S. has the most skilled workforce in the world. In the meantime,
the Obama Administration is working to make improvements in the areas
where we can make a difference.'
'As part of these ongoing efforts and in recognition of the one-year anniversary of the
White House Startup America Initiative, the Department of Homeland Security today announced a series of administrative reforms which will be completed in the future.'
'The initiatives described below will serve to make the United States
more attractive to highly-skilled foreign students and workers, thereby
improving the competitiveness of U.S. companies in the world market and
stimulating U.S. job creation.'
- Expand eligibility for 17-month extension of optional practical
training (OPT) for F-1 international students to include students with a
prior degree in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
(STEM).
- Allow for additional part-time study for spouses of F-1 students and
expand the number of Designated School Officials (DSOs) at schools
certified by DHS to enroll international students.
- Provide work authorization for spouses of certain H-1B holders.
- Allow outstanding professors and researchers to present a broader scope of evidence of academic achievement.
- Harmonize rules to allow E-3 visa holders from Australia and H-1B1
visa holders from Singapore and Chile to continue working with their
current employer for up to 240 days while their petitions for extension
of status are pending.
- Launch Entrepreneurs in Residence initiative
The above proposed initiatives include:
- Provide work authorization for spouses of certain H-1B holders.
This
proposed change to the current DHS regulation would allow certain
spouses of H-1B visa holders to legally work while their visa holder
spouse waits for his or her adjustment of status application to be
adjudicated. Specifically, employment will be authorized for H-4
dependent spouses of principal H-1B visa holders who have begun the
process of seeking lawful permanent resident status through employment
after meeting a minimum period of H-1B status in the U.S. This effort
will help retain talented professionals who are valued by U.S. employers
and who seek to contribute to our economy.
________
Lets rewind back to 2009, more precisely 14th January 2009, just 6 days prior to the swearing in ceremony of the then President-elect Barack Obama. As President-elect, he had invited suggestions and recommendations for Immigration Reform through the website change.gov. In response to his invitation, below is verbatim transcript of a message with an article titled
IMMIGRATION REFORM:
ALLOWING H4 VISA SPOUSE TO WORK, sent to the then President-elect on his change.gov website in response to an invitation...
It is with immense pleasure to note that the recommendation has been accepted and is listed among the proposed initiatives.
________
DEAR ALL,
I was invited to post directly to the President-elect's then transition web site change.gov!
I request you publicize this as much as possible through your FORUM and
ask them to VOTE UP on this issue on the Presidents site so that this is
taken as a charter and presented to the President.
The complete text of the article under the
TITLE: IMMIGRATION REFORM
ALLOWING H4 VISA SPOUSE TO WORK
is posted below for your immediate
reference:
"The time to fix our broken immigration system is now… We need stronger
enforcement on the border and at the workplace… But for reform to work,
we also must respond to what pulls people to America… Where we can
reunite families, we should. Where we can bring in more foreign-born
workers with the skills our economy needs, we should." -- Barack Obama,
Statement on U.S. Senate Floor, May 23, 2007
Well said Sir, and now as President-elect, we hope to see some action on above.
This issue I bring to your attention may seem trivial, but throws light
on darker side of the life of dependent H4 visa holders, who are mostly
women. And since you endorse women empowerment, I believe you will give
a serious look at this idea.
There's a strong lobby support for increasing H-1B visa cap to address
the shortage of skilled workers. There's also a strong lobby opposing it.
This idea will satisfy both the lobbies. A very simple way to
literally double the number of already available skilled workers in the
USA without having to increase the visa cap. Allow me to explain....
Currently the spouse of H-1B holders, the H4 visa holders are not
allowed to work. Most of these H4 Visa holders are qualified, skilled
and experienced. In one stroke of the pen, by amending this tiny rule
allowing H4 visa holders to work, you will facilitate thousands, if not
millions of already legal & available skilled workers in the US, to
work. Please note that spouse on L2 Spouse/Dependent visas for L1 visa
holders (intra-company transferee), ARE allowed to work through an
amendment in 2001. And this can be used as a precedent. Even J and E
Visa spouses (J2, E2) are allowed to work.
Good For the Economy: While its now a norm to have a dual-income family
where the husband and wife both work, its become all the more necessary
for a family to just survive through these unprecedented economic times.
H1-B visa workers typically stay on for at least 3 years continuously
if not extend it for the next available 3 years. All this while, the
poor H1B and his family have to get along with just one income.
Moreover, the law also forces the skilled and experienced spouse on H4
to idle at home. This I believe is a loss of national productivity.
Your statistics will prove how many H-4's are currently idling away in
the US.
Good for the Community & Social standing of Women:
To keep the family together, H1 visa holders bring in their spouse on H4
visa. And then, they get locked in the house. Ninety percent of H4 visa
holders are women. Women being, more susceptible to domestic violence
by the partner, becomes even more prone to violence due to her complete
dependence on the spouse. They become prisoners in USA due to spousal
abuse and immigration policies that give their husbands complete control
over their lives. Yes, the immigration system is broken. The immigrant
women get protection under VAWA but non-immigrants are not covered. Even
if a law to let the non-immigrant battered women to obtain work permit
is introduced, it might not protect women whose cases are dismissed as
non-critical. The abuser can further exert his control over the victim
and convince her that he has changed so that the victim might not press
charges. Thus the abuser gets encouraged to continue violence. Divorce
is not an option because most non-immigrants come from third world
countries where a divorced women has to bear the social stigma of
divorce and will not be protected in her own home country. Because of
the long queues for Labor certification application and retrogression of
visa numbers, getting an EAD and Green Card takes longer.
Way Forward:
You plan to legalize people living illegally in USA (and working
illegally), you plan to give them a low skilled requirement job visa,
similar to the H-1B or L-1, only that skills required are low, and you
will let their spouses work too. This will mean that the only resident
visa holder NOT AUTHORIZED TO WORK will be the H-4 visa holders.
As a tech-savvy President, you may also want to browse this issue on
Google groups and hear the voices of depressed, frustrated and more
often abused women, here... Oops. I am unable to provide you the link as
it appears to violate the change.gov comment policy (?). The group
title is misc.immigration.usa and title is Why USA should issue the dependent visa holders work-authorization? There's another forum under
immigrationvoice.org you may wish to look up. Thanks.
When people who have come to the US illegally will be able to work
legally – the poor H4 souls (mostly skilled women) who have come legally
and followed all the rules should be given a fair chance to contribute
to the economy and better their quality of life. By a simple amendment,
allowing the H4 visa holders to work, you will make a brilliant move,
without upsetting those who oppose the move to INCREASE the current H1B
cap. Please think about it. May God Bless America!
LINK
________
Thank you dear President for accepting the recommendation in principle to provide work authorization for spouse of certain H-1B visa holders and listing it among the proposed changes! Lets hope these changes happen sooner than later!
What if we could make elections matter again? 
