On June 23, in a huge blow to Indian IT professionals eyeing the US job market, the Trump administration suspended the H-1B visas along with other types of foreign work visas until the end of 2020 to protect American workers in a crucial election year.
Reflecting the mood of the Silicon Valley, prominent media outlets from California have come out openly in support of the H-1B work visas and opposed increasing the "hire Americans" call in the United States.
A new law and a new study refuel the H-1B debate.
H-1B visa reform bill introduced in US Senate
The USCIS announcement indicated that the US government is going to be tough and stringent in approval of H-1B visas this year.
United States, the largest market for the $282 billion Indian IT sector, is a "wild card" for the industry, lobby grouping Nasssom's president Rajesh Nambiar said on Monday. Speaking to reporters Nambiar said the tariff threats by the US may turn out to be the biggest headwind for the sector. "Broadly, if you were to look at the headwinds, the biggest unknown there would be the tariffs and the impact of what happens in the US market," Nambiar said.
Do you support this move by the US Governors? Do you think Indian would benefit should H1-B visas be increased?
Glen Keiser, consular section chief, US Consulate, Mumbai, says that Hyderabad and Bangalore are centres of H-1B visa fraud.
Lower numbers signal that that companies, especially the technology services firms, are steadily reducing the dependency on non-immigrant visas.
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
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 United States immigration authorities have announced that 2,000 slots in the H1B visa category are still available for those holding American master's degree or advanced degrees.
H-1B workers have minimal skills, says Infosys whistleblower
The rush for these visas before the limit runs out is apparent from the fact that while 3,302 such visas were available on November 29, 2005 only 1,364 visas remain on offer at present.
Had the US Senate plan been cleared, it would have increased the H1-B visas by 30,000 annually.
In President Donald Trump's big priority bill, there is a proposal for a 5 percent excise tax on remittance transfers that would cover more than 40 million people, including those holding green cards and H1B visas.
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.
High visa processing fees, social security issues and the decision by Administrative Appeals Office to reapply for H1B on location change make life tougher for highly skilled professionals from India, Nasscom chief BVR Mohan Reddy tells Ritu Jha/Rediff.com
US President Donald Trump has extended the freeze on the most sought-after H-1B visas along with other types of foreign work visas by three months to protect American workers, saying while therapeutics and COVID-19 vaccines are recently available, their effect on the labour market and community health has not yet been fully realised. The decision will impact a large number of Indian IT professionals and several American and Indian companies who were issued H-1B visas by the US government for the fiscal year 2021 beginning October 1. The freeze on various categories of work visas was ordered by Trump through two proclamations on April 22 and June 22 last year.
Indians received the lion's share of H1-B visas over the 12-month period ending September 2004, and the H1-B post at the US Consulate General Office in Chennai was one of the busiest such offices in the world, a US consulate official said.
Observing that the H-1B work visa programme helps hire the best available talent of the world, American software giant Microsoft has said H-1B visa holders have contributed significantly to its success.
Indians are the main beneficiaries of the H-1B visas, which bring in the best of the talent and brains from across the world. Highly skilled professionals from India walk away with the overwhelming number of H-1B visas - which is Congressional mandated 65,0000 every year and another 20,000 for those who received higher education from the US.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced to review its policy in H-1B cap exemptions for non-profit entities that are related to or affiliated with an institution of higher education.
The new information required by the Department of Labour is significant because before sponsoring a foreign worker for the H-1B visa, the company needs to get its labour application approved by it.
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.
US to start accepting H-1B petitions from April 1.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first-ever in-person meeting with President Joe Biden raised a number of issues involving the Indian community in America, including access for Indian professionals in the US and speaking about the H-1B visas, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla has said.
ITServe's lawsuit against the USCIS alleges that the agency has no authority to misinterpret the existing regulations and shorten the approval durations.
Arun Vakil looks at H1B visas in the United States. He gives an introduction, reviews details and looks at the future of this most desired and least available visa.
The USCIS said this year it expects to receive more than 65,000 petitions.
A year ago, when thousands of people were handed pink slips, the USCIS had received 42,000 H-1B applications.
This is primarily because of the current economic situation in the country, Microsoft said. "Given the economic downturn, we are filing substantially fewer H-1B applications than we filed last year," Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith wrote in a blog posting on microsoftissues.com.
Among IT services firm, Cognizant witnessed over 60 per cent of its initial applications rejected, followed by Capgemini, Accenture, Wipro, and Infosys. In 2018, the top six Indian firms got just 16 per cent or 2,145 H1B work permits.
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.
All were released on $250,000 bond, the Department of Justice said.
Like last year, the agency will receive applications between April 1 and April 5. If the cap is not reached, it will continue to accept applications for five more days.
About 76,000 H-1B visas were issued to people in computer occupations in 2014.
In the wake of the economic crisis, there has been a sharp drop in H-1B work visa applications from major Indian IT companies.
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