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H-1B Visa: This Indian-American Silicon Valley Worker Fought For The Recent Reforms

by Tooba Shaikh
H-1B Visa: This Indian-American Silicon Valley Worker Fought For The Recent Reforms

The recent H-1B visa reforms have proved to be a huge relief to many Indian nationals who are currently residing and working in the United States of America or the US. One of the biggest reforms of the H-1B Visa is that Indian Nationals, from now on, will not have to return to the country in order to renew their visas. This massive relief was not won overnight. It was possible because of the efforts of Ajay Bhutoria, an advocate for immigrant issues.

The Indian-American Silicon Valley Worker Who Fought For H-1B Visa Reforms

Ajay Bhutoria is the President’s advisory commissioner on the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander or the AANHPI commission. He is also a widely known advocate for immigrant issues and had been working ceaselessly to bring about these reforms.

His work is primarily located in the Silicon Valley. Hence, he was familiar with the challenges faced by Indian nationals when it came to renewals of visas. In an article recently published by The Times Of India, he stated that the process of getting your visas renewed by going back to the country gave rise to many issues.

It created hindrances in work and applicants were forced to live apart from their families during the process. Recognising how mentally and even financially taxing the process is, he wanted to streamline it.

Also Read: H-1B Visa Holders’ Spouses’ Right To Work Upheld As The US District Court Dismissed A Lawsuit Against It

Began Pushing For The Reforms As Early As In Sept 2022

Bhutoria was aware of how nerve-wracking the process was and he worked on streamlining it. Bhutoria gave a comprehensive recommendation to the subcommittee of immigration of the AANHPI Commission. He presented his recommendation during an AANHPI Commission meeting which was conducted in the month of September 2022.

He managed to gather unanimous approval from the commission which showcased the urgency of the reform. Based on this approval, the United States Department of State began work on removing various hindrances that prevented the policy from being implemented.

As per the TOI article, the first announcement of the programme was made by the State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary, Nancy Jackson at the US India Summit hosted at Milpitas in Silicon Valley by Bhutoria. 

Also Read: After Tech Giants, McDonald’s Prepares For Mass Layoffs Amid Global Economic Slowdown

How has this policy change affected your or your loved ones’ lives? Let us know in the comments below!

Cover Image Credits: @ajainb/Twitter