Humanity for H1B residents
Humanity for H1B residents
H1B visa holders in the U.S have once again received the short end of the stick, this time during the Covid-19 Pandemic. It is no secret that there are millions of people who are U.S residents and maintain their legal status with an H1B visa. A lot of these people are from populated countries in Asia.
As you may have guessed, these people have family (Parents, Grandparents etc.) in their country of origin and the Covid-19 pandemic has spared no country. One of these countries is India. The moment the Delta variant spread, a presidential proclamation banned all travel from India to the USA except for U.S citizens and permanent residents. You can read more about the proclamation here:
According to the proclamation, even students (on an F1 visa), many of whom are visiting the U.S for the first time are exempt from the travel ban. However, people with valid work visas like the H1B are not allowed to enter the U.S even if they have a home in the U.S.
Over the past year, this travel restriction has caused tremendous anxiety and grief for some U.S residents on H1B. They have had to travel to India for various reasons including family emergencies. While dealing with the emergency and in some cases grief, these people have been trapped in the web of the travel ban and also lost their jobs in the U.S. You can read a story here:
H1B residents just like U.S citizens and Permanent residents pay taxes, volunteer in communities and have made U.S their home for the duration of their stay. These people contribute positively to the U.S economy with no exception and deserve to be treated better.
Mr. President, please allow these people to travel and return to the U.S after a negative Covid test. Also perhaps, these people could temporarily get their visas stamped in the U.S (this has been done before).
I would bet that a 100 percent of these H1B residents are fully vaccinated.