Communications of the ACM
U.s. Plan Aims to Draw Immigrants With Technology Skills
The United States plans to permit spouses of H1B visa holders to work in the United States.
Credit: indiabells.com
The Obama administration on Tuesday announced plans to allow the spouses of some highly skilled temporary immigrants to work in the United States.
The proposed rule changes are designed to help the country attract and retain immigrants with skills in technology and science and "unleash more of the extraordinary contributions that immigrants have always made to America’s innovation economy," say U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) deputy secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Department of Commerce secretary Penny Pritzker.
The proposals focus on visa rules that have caused difficulties for the spouses of skilled immigrants who are working here on temporary H-1B visas. "Denying spouses the right to work is an ill-conceived policy that has gone on for too long," says Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA).
The proposals will be subject to a 60-day period of public comment that could lead to changes, and DHS officials hope to issue final regulations by the end of the year. The changes would benefit as many as 97,000 immigrants in the first year and about 30,000 a year after that, according to Mayorkas.
However, many immigration lawyers say the proposals should cover all H-1B spouses and note other countries, including Canada and Australia, have more generous policies.
From The New York Times
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