Infosys on Friday said it is in discussion with clients for a contingency plan to ensure business continuity in the event of the US immigration reforms bill becoming a law.
In a move that will benefit a significantly large number of Indian technology professionals, the US is set to begin a pilot programme for domestic renewal of certain categories of H-1B visas in December. The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality 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.
In a submission to the federal government on the size of the immigration programme to be set in the May budget, Australian Industry Group has asked the government to increase intake of immigrants from 190,000 to 220,000 in 2014-15.
The move may result in a short-term cost impact for IT Indian companies, according to experts, despite the firms ramping up their local hiring and offshoring projects elsewhere to overcome visa-related issues.
Nearly 70 Indian students in the US continue to remain in limbo after Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials raided the University of Northern Virginia and the Customs and Immigration Service subsequently rejected their transfer applications. Their attorney and counsel Sheela Murthy says that she has now advised them to file a class-action suit against the university.
The US officials informed that out of more than 1000 students, who were being considered for transfer to other universities, 435 transfers were approved, 145 were denied and about an equal number were issued Notices of Intention to Deny (NOIDs), the Indian embassy said in a statement.
They were allegedly attempting to illegally cross the Russian-Ukrainian border.
Nisha Agarwal, commissioner of the New York Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, recalls, with both anguish and elation, the events of the last fortnight after the US President's order banning entry for people from seven countries was put in place.
The immigration Bill from a bipartisan group of US Senators will hurt US companies as much as Indian IT service providers.
Magistrate judge Jacqueline Chooljian on Thursday ordered the defence attorneys and prosecutors to file additional documents by July 15, which was reported by a US news agency.
US immigration authorities, in the past four years, have increased denial of work-related visas, with India-born professionals being refused at higher rates than nationals of other countries, an American think tank said in a report on Friday.
New Zealand Immigration Service, the authorised body for issuing visas for New Zealand, on Thursday opened visa collection centres in Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Delhi.
The US on Thursday introduced a new facility for premium processing of permanent residency, or Green Card, applications from foreign nationals that are willing to make heavy investment in US, resulting in creation of jobs.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh said that mobile internet services, which were suspended after ethnic violence erupted in the northeastern state on May 3, will be restored from Saturday.
A new law and a new study refuel the H-1B debate.
Amid speculation that there would be reduction in number of H-1B visas, which has attracted large number of Indian professionals, a top immigration expert has said that the quota of 65,000 will get capped as the filing opens on April 1.
The company said it has suspended the staffers and that it was part of the operation to unearth this crime.
The unnamed 24-year-old suspect worked at Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport and is said to have charged customers GBP 25,000 per trip to abuse a loophole and fly them across the British Airways network without crucial visa documents.
Kamala Harris used her forceful presidential acceptance speech to present herself as a leader who could unite the country to chart a 'new way forward' and warned Americans of 'extremely serious' consequences of putting her Republican rival Donald Trump back in the White House.
In what can be good news for hundreds of Indian IT professionals seeking the H-1B work visa, the US' immigration agency has decided to conduct a rare second lottery for the most sought-after visas to decide on the successful applicants who could not make it in the first random selection. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said on Thursday that a decision was taken after determining that the computerised draw of lots for H-1B visas conducted early this year did not give them enough numbers of the Congressional mandated H-1B visas. The H-1B visa, the most sought-after among Indian IT professionals, is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.
While India should be concerned about disparities, the fact is that whereas three decades ago about half the people had incomes greater than $2.15 a day, today seven out of eight do, notes T N Ninan.
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, which is the federal agency responsible to process the visas, on Monday started accepting applications for H-1B visas for the fiscal year 2019, beginning October 1.
The Israeli government on Sunday approved the appointment of Reuven Azar as the new Ambassador to India.
The National Security Strategy document should flag all major issues concerning security strategy and provide guidelines to concerned departments to work out suitable action plans. Since the global and regional geopolitical canvas is dynamic, the NSS document should be deliberated at length before formulation and should be reviewed periodically, recommends Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
The woman was part of a group of protesters and had declared that she wouldn't come down until "all the children are released.
Key provisions of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which came into law this year may violate certain provisions of India's Constitution, a report issued by an independent research wing of the United States Congress has claimed.
Officially called the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernisation Act, 2013, the Bill being pushed by the Obama administration gives the domestic IT professionals in the US a 60-day period to find a new job after they lose the existing one, among several other sweeping reforms.
Political asylum is the right to live in a foreign country, and is given by the government of that country to people who have to leave their own country because they are in danger of persecution.
All three agreed to have the proceedings heard in English and each of them nodded that they understood the charges of first-degree murder and conspiring to murder Nijjar, the report said.
Obama announced to take a series of executive actions, including a shift of immigration enforcement resources.
Applicants for Indian citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 (CAA) can submit any of nine documents, including valid or expired passport, ID cards and land tenancy records, to prove he or she is a national of Afghanistan or Bangladesh or Pakistan.
Lower numbers signal that that companies, especially the technology services firms, are steadily reducing the dependency on non-immigrant visas.
Applications for H-1B work visa for the fiscal year 2013 would be accepted from April 2.
The US president's stance on immigration could lead to a change in H1B visa rules.
BharatPe co-founder Ashneer Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain were stopped at the Delhi international airport following a look out circular issued against them in the alleged fraud at the fintech firm, sources said. The couple were to travel to New York late on Thursday for vacation when they were stopped at the airport on the basis of a look out circular issued by the Economic Offences Wing (EoW) of the Delhi police. EoW is investigating complaints of payments being made at BharatPe to fake human resource consultancies allegedly operated by Grover and family. They have also been accused of backdating invoices to use funds.
Nearly three months after the US immigration agency started accepting petitions for the H-1B visas for highly-skilled foreign professionals, it is still looking for more than 20,000 applications to fill the Congressionally-mandated cap of 65,000.
If you are applying for United States citizenship or planning to apply for any other immigration benefits, be ready to pay more from October 26.\n\n
In a big relief for thousands of stranded Indian professionals in America due to the coronavirus pandemic, the US government has decided to allow applications by H-1B visa holders for an extended stay in the country. The US department of homeland security in a new notification has said it recognises that there are immigration-related challenges as a direct result of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a move that is expected to hit Indian IT companies, the US government has decided to hike H-1B visa fee from next fiscal.
