IT companies file lawsuit against US immigration agency over shorter duration of H1B visas
Washington, Oct 16 : An IT advocacy group representing more than 1,000 small IT companies mostly run by Indian-Americans has filed a lawsuit against the US immigration agency for issuing H-1B visas for shorter than three years durations.
The H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.
These visas are typically issued for three to six years to employers to hire a foreign worker.
Based out of Dallas in Texas, the ITServe Alliance in its 43-page lawsuit filed last week alleged that the US Citizenship and Immigration Services has recently begun a practice of approving H-1B petitions for shorter than three years durations.
"These petitions are often valid for only months or days at a time, and some cases are expired by the time the approval is received," it said.
ITServe lawsuit against the USCIS alleges that the agency has no authority to misinterpret the existing regulations and shorten the approval durations.
In fact, the United States Congress has specifically granted power to the Department of Labor and DOL's regulations grant three-year approvals, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit also alleges that the itinerary requirement put forth by the USCIS is also unlawful.
This is the second lawsuit filed by ITServe against USCIS. In the first lawsuit filed in July 2018, ITServe demanded USCIS to remove language from their website prohibiting F-1 STEM OPT students working at the third part client locations.
"The USCIS has been making arbitrary rules and memos for over eight years, it's our top priority to set things right and hold USCIS accountable to follow the regulations set by the United States Congress," said ITServe's national president for 2018, Gopi Kandukuri.
Referring to the recent spate of H-1B denials that ITServe members received, Kandukuri added members of ITServe Alliance are tired of receiving random denials for no reason.
"The new battlefield for us is the federal courthouse and not USCIS service centers, he said.
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Case registered against those who took part in protest march against Khamenei's killing
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Wednesday said that the police have booked a case against those who took out a protest march in the city recently, without permission, condemning the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
A large number of Shia Muslims gathered in Richmond Town on March 2 to mourn Khamenei's demise and held a protest march.
"A section of the minority community has accepted Khamenei as their religious leader. When he died, naturally they felt the pain and expressed it. But it should have happened within the framework of the law of the land. They had not sought any permission for the procession and no permission was given," Parameshwara said in response to a question.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "They went ahead with the procession. So, the police have taken action by registering cases against them. In the days ahead, we will not let them hold any processions. As there are court orders not to permit any procession in the city, it can be done at Freedom Park if needed. The government is strictly abiding by the court orders."
Responding to a question about a Congress legislator also being part of the protest march, the home minister merely said, "We will strictly follow the rules."
Khamenei was killed in an airstrike in Tehran on Saturday during a joint Israel-US attack on Iran.
