Donald Trump Temporarily Suspends H-1B Visa, “Moving To Merit Based System,” Says US

US President Donald Trump has directed his administration to "reform" the H-1B visa system & move in the direction of merit-based immigration, White House officials said on June 22. This comes soon after Trump issued a proclamation to temporarily suspend H-1B and other work visas till the end of the year. Trump Administration will reform the immigration system to prioritise the highest-skilled workers and protect American jobs, it said. Under these reforms, the H-1B programme will prioritise those workers who are offered the highest wage, ensuring that the highest-skilled applicants are admitted, the White House said. Trump Administration will also close loopholes that have allowed employers in the US to replace American workers with low-cost foreign labour, it said. These reforms will help protect the wages of American workers and ensure that foreign labour entering the country is high skilled and does not undercut the United States labour market, the White House added. Noting that there is a cap on H-1B visas of 85,000 every year, an official said that last year, 2,25,000 applications were received for those visas. Noting that there is a cap on H-1B visas of 85,000 every year, the official said that last year, 2,25,000 applications were received for those visas. Trump among other things has instructed to change the prevailing wage calculation and clean it up, with respect to H-1B wages.