The Trump administration has said it is planning to “revise” the definition of employment and speciality occupations under H-1B visas by January.

The H-1B visa, most sought after among Indian IT professionals, is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.

Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on Wednesday that the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) plans to come out with its new proposal by January 2019.

The DHS said it will “propose to revise the definition of specialty occupation” to increase focus on obtaining the best and the brightest foreign nationals through the H-1B programme.

It will also “revise the definition” of employment and employer-employee relationship to “better protect” US workers and wages.

The DHS will propose additional requirements designed to ensure employers pay appropriate wages to H-1B visa holders, the administration said.

Such a move will hit Indian IT companies as well as small and medium contractual companies in the IT sector in the US that are mostly owned by Indian Americans.

The H-1B visa has an annual numerical limit cap of 65,000 visas each fiscal year as mandated by the Congress.

As an H-1B non-immigrant, the applicant may be admitted for a period of up to three years. The time period may be extended, but generally cannot go beyond a total of six years.

The DHS said it was also proposing to remove from its regulations certain H-4 spouses of H-1B non-immigrants as a class of aliens eligible for employment authorisation.

This could have an impact on more than 70,000 H-4 visas holders, who have work permits.

The H-4 visas are issued by the USCIS to immediate family members (spouse and children under 21 years of age) of H-1B visa holders.

The Trump administration is reviewing the H-1B visa policy that it thinks is being misused by companies to replace American workers.

The administration has said publicly and also in its court filing that it wants to revoke work permits to H-4 visa holders, a significant majority of whom are Indian-Americans and women.

The DHS, which has already delayed three times this year issuing of the necessary notification, said it was on its way to remove H-4 dependent spouses from getting work authorisation.