US court overthrows H-1B visa program changes, says administration’s causes unjustified

PUNE: A US court has ruled against the recent changes introduced in the H-1B visa program, including raising minimum wage levels and tightening eligibility requirements. It said that the administration had not justified its choice to skip key procedural steps.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White found that the unemployment crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic was not “good cause” for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Department of Labor to flout the proper regulatory procedure when issuing the two policies, which aimed to crack down on H-1B specialty occupation visas. While the salary requirements were effectively immediately upon publication in October, the new eligibility criteria were to be effective from December.