By Admin 
H 1b visa: The US Government Shutdown, which began on 1 October, has completely stalled the H1B visa process. The biggest impact of this is on the Indian professionals who are H1B visa beneficiaries. According to data, more than 71% of Indians are Indian professionals in H1B visa holders.
The US Department of Labor releases the required LCA (Labor Condition Application) before approved any H1B visa application. But due to shutdown, the functioning of the department has stopped.
New visa cannot be released
According to immigration lawyers, if the employees have not taken LCA approval before the shutdown, then no new H1B visa can be given. Apart from this, change in the condition of visa will also not be possible. Sophie Alcorn, an immigration lawyer of Silicon Valley, said that this will have the most impact on new applications. At the same time, there will be no effect on the already ongoing matters as American citizenship and immigration services (USCIs) work on the basis of their fees and are not dependent on the Congress budget.
Employees and their families increased concern
The situation of thousands of technical staff and their families has been affected due to shutdown. The legal status of many employees depends directly on government approval. Startup companies are facing uncertainty about their employees. It also includes the founder who is on a visa himself. The process of recruitment of high skilled employees and visa renewal has stopped completely. O 1 visa people, who are given special abilities in science, art or business, are also facing similar uncertainty as the immigration process has slowed down and affected due to shutdown.
H1B visa fee increase
There is no fixed date of government shutdown. President Trump has recently announced an increase in visa fee for the new H1B visa applicants by $ 1,00,000. Along with this, a plan has been made to change the lottery system to give priority to high -paying employees. This shutdown started on 1 October at 12:01 pm local time and no end date is fixed. The last long shutdown lasted for 35 days during Trump’s tenure, which was the longest in the last four decades. Until the Congress agrees on funding, Indian professionals working in America will have to wait uncertain.