Indians rejoice due to easing of student visa rules in America
In the US, the Department of Immigration has announced to relax the rules of student visa. Many youths of India will also benefit from this.
With the change in visa rules, it will also be easier for children of people living on H1B visas to work in the US to get a student visa while legally living in the US.
Under this, students who are living on H1B visa of their parents will not have to fill separate applications again and again to get student visa after reaching the age of 21 and retain their legal status.
The US Immigration Department USCIS issued a statement announcing the new visa rules.
“Under the new rules, those who have filed a change of status application for an F1 student visa are now eligible for a student visa from the date of their commencement of study at a college or university,” the Immigration Department statement said. You will not have to fill immigration applications again and again to maintain your legal status till one month ago.
Gap in legal status
Many young people had to maintain their legal status by obtaining a variety of visas up to a month before the start of their college studies, so their stay in the US did not expire, for which several applications had to be submitted to the Immigration Department.
The Immigration Department says that now the day the first submitted (I-539) application is approved, the change of status for F-1 will be valid from the same day and there will be no gap in legal status.
The Immigration Department has also said that if a student’s application has been approved more than a month before the start of the course, then during that time it will be mandatory to follow all the rules of student visa.
The US Department of Immigration, citing student visa rules, said that people living on student visas are not allowed to work on-campus or off-campus jobs more than a month before the start of an education course.
US Department of Immigration
The purpose of the new student visa rules is that the work for the US Immigration Department along with those applying for the visa will not increase and the cost will also be reduced.
Bharat Shyam, originally from Hyderabad city, now lives in New Jersey and works in the IT sector.
He came to the US from India on an H1B visa and now his children will also lose their H4 visa after two years as they turn 21 and that’s why he is very happy with the F1 visa rules easing.
Bharat Shyam says, “My children are also going to go to F1 in two to three years, so with the introduction of this new rule, now we will not have to suffer. That’s why I am very happy that changes have been made in the visa rules. I understand That this is a very good move by the Immigration Department, it will bring great change for all people.”
People on H1B Visa
Harish Karthikeyan, who hails from Chennai, India, has been studying in the US on an F1 visa for many years. He is now pursuing a PhD in Computer Science at New York University.
Harish Karthikeyan says that the relaxation in the rules of student visa will bring great relief to the students coming from India.
Harish Karthikeyan says, “Students will be greatly relieved by this change in the F1 visa rules. Now students coming from India will no longer have to fill out various applications to maintain their legal status in the US and they will have to get their visa stamped. I don’t have to go back to India just to get it installed… I think it’s a big relief.”
Previously, children of non-immigrant visa holders in the US, such as those on H-1B visas, had to either obtain an F-1 student visa, like international students, or return to their home country when they turned 21.
IT Sector
Subramaniam Bogavarpu from Hyderabad city of India lives in New Jersey and works in the IT sector. He is also living in America on H1B visa only.
Subramaniam Bogavarpu explains that his sister also lives in America on H1B and now her green card is also going to come but by that time one of her children will cross the age limit of 21 and she will be on H1B or H1B of her parents. H4 visa will be different.
So that child will not even be able to get a green card. Now his family is worried that their child may have to go back to India or may have to shift to Canada. He says that now with this new rule, it will be easier to get an F1 visa. Subramaniam Bogavarpu says, “This new visa rule will bring great relief to people coming to the US on H1 visas. Especially the children of people on this visa used to be very tense, when they are going through a period of uncertainty whether to come to the US They will get a visa to stay or they will have to go back to India. And that is why the parents of such children also used to be very worried. Now these new rules will play a very important role in the life of such people.”
Easing of visa rules
Most of the professionals who come with H1B visas to work in the US come from India.
According to an estimate, more than one lakh 30 thousand Indian youth living in America will get ease in living in America due to the relaxation in F1 visa rules.
Many immigration lawyers of Indian origin have also welcomed the change in this visa rule. But many lawyers are also saying that now America should also end the policy of giving a limited number of visas to each country. And with this the number of visas should also be increased.
At the same time, some lawyers also say that the career of children can be better by changing the rules of F1 visa. But getting a green card for people with H1B visas still seems a daunting task.
Green Card
Indian-American Anand Ahuja is an immigration attorney in New York City.
He says, “The children of people who came to the US on H1B visas will benefit from this new rule because they can go here in America with higher education and go to good jobs. But I tell people who come on H1B visa that you believe that Don’t run because you will get a green card.
People coming from India, living in the US on H1B and H4 visas and applying for a green card, have to wait for many years to get a green card. In most cases, it takes more than 10 years.
That is why when the children of those people crossed the age of 21, it was difficult to establish their legal status due to the separation of those children from their parents’ visas.
As the new year of studies in US universities is about to begin soon, the Immigration Department’s easing of student visa rules is expected to bring great relief to the youth and their parents.
