Free Republic

After US President Donald Trump and Congress failed to reach a funding deal by Wednesday's deadline, the government shutdown began. As a result, hundreds of thousands of federal employees face furloughs, and many offices will be closed. H-1B visas will also face a pause until the shutdown ends, says immigration attorney Nicole Gunara. She said that H-1B visa filings will not be processed until the Congress can agree on federal funding allocations.

Apoorva arrived in New York in 2018 on an H-1B visa, fresh from one of India’s top graduate schools and brimming with hope of building a life in the United States. She soon joined an architecture firm, eager to contribute her skills and establish roots. But her dreams were quickly dashed — because Apoorva, like many other immigrants on an H-1B, soon experienced some visa-related issues. She recalled being stuck at her minimum wage architecture job for over three years. Changing jobs on an H-1B visa is famously difficult, and often means enduring months of bureaucratic limbo and steep United...

SPENCER, Iowa — Vivek Ramaswamy said he regrets taking the two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine he’s received. He also said at a recent campaign stop that he and his wife, surgeon Apoorva Ramaswamy, “disagree on things sometimes,” and that’s OK. One of those things is their feelings about the Covid-19 vaccine, Apoorva Ramaswamy told NBC News in an interview. Dr. Ramaswamy, who is a laryngologist at Ohio State University, said she has no regrets about taking the jabs to protect against Covid, putting her decision in terms of her responsibility to the patients she sees. “For my young, healthy...