Had the US Senate plan been cleared, it would have increased the H1-B visas by 30,000 annually.
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
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.
Lower numbers signal that that companies, especially the technology services firms, are steadily reducing the dependency on non-immigrant visas.
H-1B workers have minimal skills, says Infosys whistleblower
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.
Trading sentiment in the equity market will be guided by macroeconomic data announcements, global trends and quarterly earnings from IT major TCS this week, analysts said. Stock markets would also be tracking trading activity of foreign investors who remained net sellers of Indian equities in September.
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
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.
India has implemented a number of free trade agreements with developed nations and is in active dialogue for such pacts with nations including the US, Oman, and the EU, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said. India has implemented trade pacts with Australia, the UAE and EFTA bloc. It has also signed an agreement with the UK.
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.
Rubio voiced "appreciation" for New Delhi's continued engagement on bilateral issues, including trade, defence and energy.
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.
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.
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.
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.
'The battle for brain power among Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Nvidia and Tesla and newer AI companies is fierce.' 'Given the race for AI with China, these companies will find it hard pressed to fill that talent gap,' notes an IT professional based in the US.
'Non-compatible with Western Civilization' is about as vague and jingoistic as it gets and Trump saying this gives full license to his acolytes to go full throttle on making life as difficult and scary as possible for as many non-white people as possible,' notes Sree Sreenivasan.
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.
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.
The Indian team has returned from the US after holding trade talks with their American counterparts in New York, an official said on Thursday. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, who led the team, will be back on Friday.
The USCIS said this year it expects to receive more than 65,000 petitions.
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.
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.
ITServe's lawsuit against the USCIS alleges that the agency has no authority to misinterpret the existing regulations and shorten the approval durations.
Stock markets will be driven by RBI's interest rate decision, tariff-related developments, global trends and trading activity of foreign investors in this holiday-shortened week, analysts said.
In the wake of the economic crisis, there has been a sharp drop in H-1B work visa applications from major Indian IT companies.
IT services firm Wipro on Thursday reported a marginal increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 3,246.2 crore in the July-September quarter, even as company CEO and MD Srini Pallia asserted that the demand environment remains robust with discretionary spends shifting towards AI-related projects.
About 76,000 H-1B visas were issued to people in computer occupations in 2014.
The United States on Monday said India 'missed' a major opportunity to get a liberalised regime for the much sought-after H1B visas by not agreeing to Doha deal in Geneva this July.
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.
Most pharma shares dropped, dragging the BSE Healthcare index down by 2.14 per cent after Trump's move to impose 100 per cent import tariffs on pharmaceutical drugs from October 1. Wockhardt shares tanked 9.4 per cent.
Officials said the Citizenship and Immigration Services would not issue daily update on number of applications received, but will make an announcement when the cap is reached.
Hike in H1-B visas indicates that the company is winning new deals, for which projects initially need employees onsite.
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.
