The Donald Trump administration is planning to revoke around 200,000 temporary visas, including H-1B visas, as it suspects that a large number of applicants who entered the United States on a temporary visa, for business or travel, may have lied about their 'true intentions', and chose to stay in the country.
Why Trump admin is reviewing temporary visas?
According to US State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott, the Trump administration is investigating 'fraud and abuse' in the US visa system, and thousands of temporary visas are under scrutiny to check whether visa holders lied about their true plans, NDTV reported.
The cases, believed to be around 200,000 in number, are being scanned by State Department, and the Department of Homeland Security, who are probing instances where foreign residents on temporary visas, attempted to stay in the US by applying for asylum or through some manner to gain to permanent status.
According to Pigott, a temporary visa is granted on the clear expectation that the holder will return home upon its expiration, and any violation of that norm is considered fraud, resulting in revocation of their visa.
'If an individual lies to a consular officer about their true intentions, that can constitute fraud and may result in the revocation of their visa,' he was quoted as saying.
Will visa review affect Indian nationals?
Meanwhile, asked whether Indian nationals on H-1B visa and other temporary work visas in the US, will be reviewed, Pigott said that a US Visa is 'not a right, but a privilege.'
The US State Department has not provided any specific number of Indians on the review list, nor singled out Indian H-1B visa applicants subject to added scrutiny in future, but it also hasn't ruled out any such possibilities.
Officials said the visa review process is still unfolding, and that figures could change as it moves forward, adding that process will be carried out in phases, not all at once.
How US visa review will work?
Notably, temporary visa holders who apply for asylum aren't automatically treated as fraud, but US officials are looking for cases where the timing of their arrival is suspect, and whether they misrepresented their intentions when applying for a visa.
The review seeks to determine if the individual had already planned to stay permanently before the visa interview but concealed his intentions from the officer who reviewed their visa application.
However, the interpretation of 'real intent' is largely subjective, which means genuine cases may also get swept up in the review process and may be determined as fraud.
US proposes additional H-1B visa fee
This comes after the Trump administration on Monday proposed an additional $103,265 fee for all H-1B visa cap-subject applications, including those filed by applicants eligible for the advanced degree exemption.
The new proposal from the Department of Homeland Security comes a month after a federal appeals court rejected a plea to stay a district judge's order overturning the Trump administration's plan to charge a $1,00,000 fee on H-1B visa applications.
'DHS proposes to implement the USD 103,265 amount as a separate, additional H-1B fee rather than combining it with the existing H-1B petition fee,' according to a notice published in the Federal Register.
Indian nationals are the largest beneficiaries of the US' H-1B visa program, accounting for nearly 70 percent of H-1B visas granted annually.