Joe Biden to work on H-1B visa plan

Biden will work towards providing a road map to American citizenship for nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants, including over 500,000 from India, and will also establish a minimum admission number of 95,000 refugees annually.

There will be much to cheer for Indians in the US if Joe Biden implements his action plan on citizenship, permanent residency and H-1B visas, used mainly by IT sector professionals from India.

Supporters of President-elect Joe Biden shout across the street towards supporters of US President Donald Trump, the day after a presidential election victory was called for Biden, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US November 8, 2020. (REUTERS)

Biden will work towards providing a road map to American citizenship for nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants, including over 500,000 from India, and will also establish a minimum admission number of 95,000 refugees annually.

As a largely immigrant community, but in some cases with American roots reaching back generations, Indian-Americans know firsthand the strength and resilience that immigrants bring to the United States of America, according to a policy document issued by the Biden campaign.

Biden plans to increase H-1B visa limits and remove country quotas for green cards, or permanent residency.

Both these measures, if implemented, are expected to benefit tens of thousands of Indian professionals impacted by some immigration policies of the outgoing Trump administration.

With Kamala Harris as his deputy, Biden is expected to reverse the move of Trump administration to revoke work permits to the spouses of H-1B visas, which had adversely impacted a large number of Indian families in the US.

“High skilled temporary visas should not be used to disincentivise recruiting workers already in the US for in-demand occupations,” said the Biden campaign’s policy document.