US President Donald Trump to stop spouses of H-1B visa holders from working

International travelers leave the Customs and Immigration area of Dulles International Airport (IAD) June 29, 2017, outside Washington, DC, in Dulles, Virginia. (Photo by AFP)

The White House has planned to stop the spouses of thousands of immigrant workers from getting jobs in the US.

The Department of Homeland Security said it plans to stop spouses of H-1B visa holders from working.

Since 2015, the spouses of H-1B visa holders waiting for green cards have been eligible to work in the US on H-4 dependent visas.

Highly skilled foreigners used the H-1B as a common visa route to find work at companies in the US.

The visa is valid for three years, and can be renewed for another three years.

In October, however, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services instructed its officers to toughen up the process for renewing visas, making renewing visas as difficult a process as initial visa applications.

In July, Trump signed the executive order that directs federal agencies to review and change a temporary visa program for high-skilled foreigners to ensure preference was accorded to the “most-skilled and highest-paid”.

President Donald Trump signs an executive order on H1-B visas to ‘buy American, hire American’ on April 18, 2017 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. (Photo by AFP)

The United States grants 85,000 H-1B temporary visas to high-skilled foreigners every year -- 65,000 hired from abroad and 20,000 from those enrolled in US colleges.

The White House’s plan to overhaul the H-1B program has sent jitters among Indian immigrants, which account for 70% of all H-1B workers.

Trump made many promises during the presidential campaign when he was on the road to the White House.

Homeland Security said the new decision was "in light of" the "Buy American, Hire American" executive order that US President Donald Trump signed in April.