Of the 65,000 H-1B visas issued by the US annually, 11,000 were lying vacant at the end of 2010.
The H-1B issue specifically did not figure in the talks, with Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar telling reporters that there was a lot of discussion with business leaders and the two leaders about the digital partnership when asked about whether H-1B visa issue figured in the talks.
Until May 14, the USCIS had received 19,000 petitions in the general category and 8,100 in the advanced degree category.
The US government will fight lawsuits aimed at blocking the USD 100,000 fee imposed on new H-1B visa petitions, asserting that the system was spammed with fraud and must be overhauled to prioritise American workers.
Several individuals and organisations, including the US Chambers of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration's recent rules related to the H-1B visa, terming them "arbitrary" and "haphazard" regulations that will undermine high skilled immigration into America. Early this month, the Trump administration announced new restrictions on H-1B non-immigrant visa programme which it said is aimed at protecting American workers, restoring integrity and to better guarantee that H-1B petitions are approved only for qualified beneficiaries and petitioners, a move which is likely to affect thousands of Indian IT professionals.
It's not just wrong. It's dumb. Mr President, would America really be greater without us?" he asked in a tweet.
He said his administration is going to enforce 'Hire American' rules that are designed to protect jobs and wages of workers in the United States.
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting H-1B visa petitions for the fiscal year 2010 from Wednesday, April 1, 2009. Read on to find out all you wanted to know about H-1B visas.
Dr Vakil, visa and immigration expert, discusses the H-1B visa with our readers. What's the current status? What will happen in the future?
Beth Payne, consul general, consulate general of the United States of America said, "Although we cannot predict the number, there has always been a cap on the H1B visas. The number of petitions filed every year are always more than number of H1B visas we can issue because of which we had to introduce the lottery system. I don't see any major impact on India because of the restriction."
Two influential US Senators have renewed the campaign against the biggest users of H-1B visa workers in the US, including Indian heavyweights Infosys, Wipro, Satyam and Tata Consultancy Services. They fired off a missive to these companies asking how they employed professional and skilled workers, majority of whom hail from India.
The US Mission in India issued almost two-thirds of all H1-B visas that were given worldwide in 2005, according to data from public affairs office, US Consulate General in Kolkata.
The Microsoft founder told lawmakers that the immigration system would have to be revamped in such a fashion so as to allow more number of people to get into America on H-1B visas and it did not make sense for a bright foreign student to be educated using American tax-payers money and then sent home on some immigration requirement. "It makes no sense to educate people in our universities, often subsidised by US taxpayers, and then insist they return home," Gates said.
The USCIS announcement indicated that the US government is going to be tough and stringent in approval of H-1B visas this year.
According to the latest figures released by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, just 29,700 people had applied for H-1B visas till August 13.
Information technology professionals, one of main reasons for introduction of the H-1B visa by the US, are gradually losing out their share of the temporary visa programme to teachers and doctors, a study reveals.
Thirteen governors in the United States have written to senior senators urging the need to streamline the immigration laws in the country.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services will determine from today the allocation of visas -- highly popular among IT professionals -- through computerised draw of lots.
The proposed comprehensive immigration bill if passed by the Congress and signed into law by the US President would bar companies from hiring people on H-1B visa if 50 per cent of their employees are not Americans.
About 76,000 H-1B visas were issued to people in computer occupations in 2014.
A new law and a new study refuel the H-1B debate.
Bullish on increased outsourcing by the US IT firms from India, the domestic software firms view as "positive" or of "little impact" last week's decision by the US to reduce H-1B visa issued to workers in technology industry to 65,000 from 195,000.
While the denial rate has dropped slightly to 21 per cent in 2019 from 24 per cent in 2018, the National Foundation for American Policy has said it is much higher for Indian IT companies like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Wipro and very low for American companies like Amazon and Google. For instance, the denial rate for TCS and Infosys in 2019 was 31 per cent and 35 per cent respectively, whereas for Wipro it was 47 per cent and 37 per cent for Tech Mahindra. On the other hand, the denial rate for the new H-1B petitions in 2019 was just four per cent each for Amazon and Google. The denial rate for Microsoft during the same period was six per cent, and Facebook along with Walmart was just three per cent each.
High-tech industry bodies have welcomed the move to drop a hefty $3500 fee increase in the H1B visa programme, which would also benefit Indian professionals seeking jobs in the US. Hailing the move, they said the US must retain top talent from around the world to retain America's economic leadership.
The share of Indian students pursuing OPT has nearly doubled from 22.12 per cent in 2006-07 to over 40 per cent in 2023-24.
The proposed annual quota for Indian companies could be between 10 and 15 per cent. Currently, there are no country-specific limits on H-1B allotment.
The 'Protect and Grow American Jobs Act', which, makes important changes to the eligibility requirements for H1-B visa exemptions was re-introduced on Wednesday
Trump told reporters that his administration will not tolerate firing of hardworking Americans in pursuit of cheap foreign labour.
H-1B visa reform bill introduced in US Senate
In a statement, US Customs and Immigration Services announced that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap for fiscal year 2011.
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency which receives and determines the successful applications for H-1B visas, said yesterday that it received 199,000 H-1B applications for the 2018 fiscal year.
In a latest report on immigration, US Chamber of Commerce, which is world's largest chamber with more than 3 million members, asserted that such an allegation against Indian companies is 'hyperbole'.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services said it has received approximately 49,000 H-1B petitions till August seven counting toward the Congressionally-mandated 65,000 cap, more than four months after it started accepting applications for visas for the 2010 fiscal beginning this October.
Despite an over 50 per cent drop in the number of H1-B visas issued to some Indian IT firms in 2007 against 2006, US Democrat senators Richard J Durbin and Charles E Grassley have written to nine Indian companies that figure among the top 25 recipients of approved H-1B visa petitions in 2007 seeking detailed information on how they use the visa programme.
The Boston Globe in an editorial asked the Congress to increase the H-1B visas, contending that the US has every economic incentive to keep recent graduates and welcome new immigrants that companies, especially those in tech and innovation, want in Washington.
The US Senate has agreed on the broad contours of a comprehensive immigration reform legislation that not only deals with an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the US but also seeks to increase the H1B visa allocation.
The magnitude of the new H-1B visa application fee for fresh petitions - math of which works out to USD 500 million in case of 5,000 filings - may nudge IT companies to expand offshore delivery or increase local hiring, according to Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
Obama had bypassed Congress to announce most sweeping immigration reform
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