Had the US Senate plan been cleared, it would have increased the H1-B visas by 30,000 annually.
The USCIS announcement indicated that the US government is going to be tough and stringent in approval of H-1B visas this year.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services will determine from today the allocation of visas -- highly popular among IT professionals -- through computerised draw of lots.
Shares of information technology (IT) companies were in demand on Friday, with the National Stock Exchange's (NSE's) Nifty IT index rallying 3.3 per cent on . This came after Infosys reported steady sequential growth, driven by health care boost and large deal rampup in a seasonally weak quarter (Q3FY26).
International companies usually store data on global servers and the requirement to store data locally would require them to make an additional investment. But policymakers in India believe storing data locally would help monitor and conduct investigations if the need arises.
US President-elect Joe Biden plans to increase the number of high-skilled visas, including H-1B, and eliminate the limit on employment-based visas by country, both of which are expected to benefit tens of thousands of Indian professionals impacted by some immigration policies of the outgoing Trump administration.
In a major relief to thousands of Indian IT professionals, a federal judge in the US on Thursday blocked the enforcement of a temporary visa ban by the Trump administration on a large number of work permits, including the most sought after H-1B visas, ruling that the president exceeded his constitutional authority.
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
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.
Lower numbers signal that that companies, especially the technology services firms, are steadily reducing the dependency on non-immigrant visas.
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
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.
Among Sensex firms, Trent, Power Grid, Tata Motors, Tata Consultancy Services, Asian Paints, NTPC, Adani Ports and Bajaj Finance were the laggards. However, Bharat Electronics, Axis Bank and Bharti Airtel were the major gainers.
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.
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.
From the Sensex firms, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Service, Infosys, HCL Tech, Tata Motors, Trent, Reliance Industries and Larsen & Toubro were among the major laggards. However, Eternal, Bajaj Finance, Adani Ports and UltraTech Cement were among the gainers.
India is a global leader in software development services, IT enabled services, knowledge process outsourcing services and contract R&D services relating to software development, Sitharaman said noting these business segments are quite inter-connected with each other.
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.
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.
US to start accepting H-1B petitions from April 1.
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.
Gor also announced that India will be a member of the Pax Silica alliance.
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.
The USCIS said this year it expects to receive more than 65,000 petitions.
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.
Among Sensex firms, Tata Motors, Bharat Electronics, UltraTech Cement, Tech Mahindra, Mahindra & Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Tata Consultancy Services and Axis Bank were the major laggards. However, Power Grid, Hindustan Unilever, NTPC and HCL Tech were among the gainers.
In the wake of the economic crisis, there has been a sharp drop in H-1B work visa applications from major Indian IT companies.
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.
ITServe's lawsuit against the USCIS alleges that the agency has no authority to misinterpret the existing regulations and shorten the approval durations.
About 76,000 H-1B visas were issued to people in computer occupations in 2014.
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.
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.
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.
Hike in H1-B visas indicates that the company is winning new deals, for which projects initially need employees onsite.
