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US Green Card
The White House has completed the review of a proposal to modernise the permanent labour certification process (PERM), considered as the first step for sponsoring foreign workers for a green card. The Department of Labour proposal seeks to revise the labour market test and other aspects of the PERM programme which were last modified in 2004. It had submitted the proposal to the Office of Management and Budget of the White House for review in July. The agency is advancing the proposal amid a broader enforcement crackdown targeting the PERM programme by the US administration as part of the actions taken by the Anti-Fraud Taskforce led by Vice President J D Vance. Earlier this month, the US suspended PERM programmes of Microsoft, Adobe and six other tech employers such as Infosys Technologies and Tata Group. The specific content of the proposal will not be known until publication, but according to the description of the proposed rule, it would revise the minimum standards for PERM ..
India's largest IT services company TCS feels that the US is unlikely to target tech companies based on their domicile and actions like last week's decision to suspend a green card application programme are driven by local sensitivities around jobs. TCS chief executive and managing director K Krithivasan said companies are "deeply ingrained" in the US' technology ecosystem and provide an important service. "I do not think the governments will really look at it from a domicile perspective. I think what the governments have been looking at is from an employment perspective," Krithivasan told PTI in an interview at the company's corporate headquarters here. Sensitivities around local job creation may be leading the governments to take actions like the one against the eight companies including TCS, Krithivasan said, stressing that the last week's decision has no material impact for the largest Indian IT services company. TCS, which has been sending staff to the US when clients demand s
The US has decided to drastically increase fees for immigrants seeking to invest in America and eventually claim permanent residency under the EB-5 investor programme which remains one of the most reliable ways for Indian entrepreneurs and families to obtain Green Card. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) finalised a rule on Tuesday that seeks to more than double the fees for applying to the EB-5 visa. The rule will be effective from November 30. The US EB-5 Immigrant Investor Programme grants permanent residency (a Green Card) to foreign investors and their immediate families who invest capital into a US commercial enterprise and create 10 full-time jobs for American workers. The filing fee for Form I-526, used by standalone investors, will rise from USD 3,675 to USD 7,615. The fee for an initial Form I-526E petition, used by investors participating through an approved regional centre, will increase from USD 3,675 to USD 7,850. Initial I-526 and I-526E petitions w
A Democratic Senator has made a fresh bid to push a bill to provide a pathway to lawful permanent residency for millions of long-term US residents, including H-1B visa holders. California Senator Alex Padilla on Monday reiterated support for his 'Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929' bill, first introduced last year. The bill seeks to provide a "commonsense" fix to US' "outdated" immigration system to counter President Donald Trump's "systemic attacks" on migrants across the country. The legislation also seeks to allow long-term US residents to apply for permanent residency if they have lived in the country continuously for at least seven years before filing the application. "A year ago, I introduced this bill to push back against the Trump administration's cruel treatment of hardworking immigrants," Padilla said. "Since then, President Trump's campaign of fear has only escalated, with families living under constant uncertainty despite having built their
Strong lobbying by American business leaders with the US government over its new policy on green cards led to a softening of stance on the issue, with officials dealing with immigration assuring industry leaders that most work visas would remain unaffected, The Washington Post reported. The pushback from the business leaders, including from technology and artificial intelligence sectors, soon after the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) rolled out a policy that required individuals working in the US to return to their home countries to make applications for permanent residency or green card. In the ensuing days, multiple private discussions over the phone and email took place among prominent businesses, industry groups and CEOs with the White House and the departments of Homeland Security, Labour and State, The Washington Post reported quoting people familiar with the discussions. The US Chamber of Commerce was among industry groups that pressed administration officials