Washington, April 24: It comes as a huge blow to H1-B visa holders as Donald Trump administration plans to end allowing spouses of H1-B visa holders to work legally in the US, a top federal agency official has told lawmakers. The move could have an impact on more than 70,000 H-4 visas holders, who have work permits. H-4 is issued to the spouse of H-1B visa holders.

The move will end the Obama-era rule which gave work permits for spouses who otherwise could not be employed. H4 visa holders were not allowed to work for pay in America until the Obama government changed the rule in 2015.

Under Obama's law, it allowed the H-4 visa holder to work on these temporary visas while they wait for the H-1B holders to become permanent residents. Indian-Americans were a major beneficiary of this provision. More than 100,000 H-4 visa holders have been beneficiary of this rule. The fate of 70,000 H-4 visas holders is at stake with with Trump revoking Obama's rule. It is expected that women will get affected the maximum if rules of the dependent visas are changed.

Indian IT companies, which are among the major beneficiaries of H-1B visas, have a significant number of its employees deployed at third-party worksites. A significant number of American banking, travel and commercial services depend on on-site IT workers from India to get their job done. The US, which has taken a number of steps to tighten visa processes, accounts for over 60 per cent of India's IT export revenues.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 24, 2018 01:58 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).