US President Joe Biden believes that it is important to modernise the immigration system, and this includes taking steps to help ensure highly skilled workers can stay in the country, the White House has said. Mr. Biden has revoked a policy issued by his predecessor, Donald Trump, during the COVID-19 pandemic that blocked many Green Card applicants from entering the US, a move that will benefit many Indians working in America on the H-1B visa.
A Green Card, known officially as a Permanent Resident Card, is a document issued to immigrants to the US as evidence that the bearer has been granted the privilege of residing permanently.
“The president believes that it’s important and long overdue to modernise our immigration system, and that includes taking steps to help ensure that high skilled workers can stay in the country and can go through the proper processes to stay in the country,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news conference on Thursday.
“So, we are eager to work with Democrats and Republicans in Congress to get that done,” she said a day after Mr. Biden issued the proclamation reversing the decision of his predecessor Donald Trump.
Indian IT professionals, most of whom are highly skilled and come to the US mainly on the H-1B work visas, are the worst sufferers of the current immigration system which imposes a seven per cent per country quota on allotment of the coveted Green Card or permanent legal residency. The H-1B visa, the most sought after among Indian IT professionals, is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.