Trump's new H1B visa restrictions may affect 2,40,000 people: Report

US President Donald Trump’s decision to restrict H1B visas could affect over 2,40,000 people seeking employment in various industries across the country.

In an interview with Fox News on Sunday (June 21), Trump said that he has plans to announce the new restrictions on several work visas by Monday.

He said that people won’t affect certain workers who are already in the US, adding that there will be very few exclusions in different visa categories including the H-1B program for high-skilled workers, the L-1 program for managers transferring within their companies, and H-2B visas for non-agricultural temporary workers.

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“In some cases you have to have exclusions. You need them for big businesses where they have certain people that have been coming in for a long time,” he said.

According to the new plans, an order which is under consideration may restrict people from entering the US on visa categories including the H-1B program for as long as 180 days.

As per a report in Bloomberg, the move would affect hundreds of companies and thousands of people: In fiscal year 2019, the H-1B visa was awarded to about 133,000 workers starting initial employment with a company.

More than 12,000 people were granted L-1 visas in initial applications, and more than 98,000 people were issued H-2B visas. Barring exclusions, Trump’s plan could affect more than 240,000 applicants just based on these three work visa categories, it said.

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