The United States on Saturday announced that from April 3 it will temporarily suspend the 'premium processing' of H-1B visas that allowed some companies to jump the queue as part of its efforts to clear the backlog.
Under the EB-5 visa programme you can become a US citizen provided you invest $500,000 in an approved project and create targeted employment. But only 700 Indians can do so each year.
Lower numbers signal that that companies, especially the technology services firms, are steadily reducing the dependency on non-immigrant visas.
The US government has removed a regulation proposed by former president Donald Trump's administration that sought to narrow the definition of "specialty occupation" under the H-1B visa regime. The change comes as a relief for Indian information technology firms, which are among the largest users of such visas. "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has formally vacated a regulation that would have redefined the H-1B specialty occupation, restricted off site placement of H-1B employees, and otherwise increased employer compliance obligations. "The vacatur follows a federal court ruling that set aside the regulation because the agency did not have good cause to bypass notice and comment rulemaking, in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act," explained immigration law firm Fragomen.
The USCIS announcement indicated that the US government is going to be tough and stringent in approval of H-1B visas this year.
"Somewhat surprisingly, Indian-Americans born in the United States are much more likely to report being victims of discrimination than their foreign-born counterparts," said the report.
Indian tech professionals are one of the major beneficiaries of H-1B visas.
The denial rate jumped from 4% to 41% for Tech Mahindra, from 6% to 34% for TCS, from 7% to 53% for Wipro and from just 2% to 45% for Infosys.
This provides for H-1B extensions beyond the 6-year limit.
More than 60 individuals and entities, an overwhelming number of them Indians, were on Thursday charged by the Justice Department for allegedly participating in a multi-million dollar scam involving call centres based in India which conned thousands of American citizens.
H-4 is issued to the spouse of H-1B visa holders, a significantly large number of whom are high-skilled professionals from India.
US to fix the immigration system that keeps American firms from hiring the top world talent they need.
India, being the world's largest democracy, is likely to play an important role in such a summit. Biden defeated incumbent President Donald Trump in the bitterly-fought presidential election that attracted a record number of Americans to cast their votes.
'The outcome of this trial will not directly impact Ms Richard, but we are hopeful that justice will be served,' says a spokesperson for Safe Horizon, the organisation taking care of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade's former domestic help.
Now White House would carry out its review of the proposed regulation, take inputs from various agencies, before taking a final call. The entire process could take from a few weeks to several months.
Indian IT firms - which have to incur an additional burden of about $400 million annually - have called it "discriminatory".
US' IT industry wants a cap on H!B visas.
The Biden administration on Friday issued a formal notification to delay the implementation of the previous Trump regime's controversial rule to raise mandatory minimum pay for foreign workers on H-1B visa, the most sought after among Indian IT professionals. The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China. The Department of Labour in its federal notification published on Friday said that it is considering whether to propose a further delay of the final rule's effective date and accompanying implementation periods that are currently scheduled to take effect on May 14, 2021, and July 1, 2021, respectively.
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.
He is accused of multi-year visa fraud, involving forged and fraudulent documents to get visas such as H1B for over 200 foreign workers.
The EB-5 Programme has been in effect since 1990 as an opportunity for the immigrant and their family to obtain permanent residency to the US.
Firm to prune domestic costs through initiatives such as voluntary separation
The United Kingdom is planning a tougher law to tackle the threat of Islamist terrorism in the country in the wake of the recent beheading of a United States journalist by a suspected British Islamic State militant in Iraq.
The Trump administration has 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.
India ranks 11th among countries of origin for Deferred Action for Children Arrival students.
An H4 visa is granted to the spouse/child of an H-1B worker.
In this scenario, the Indian information technology industry and government have two distinct items on the agenda before them.
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The companies experienced a drop of 5,436 approved petitions (37 per cent) in 2016 as compared to previous year, a report by the National Foundation for American Policy, a Washington-based non-profit think-tank, said.
Trump to sign an executive order aimed at achieving a more skills-based and merit-based immigration system.
But Indian information technology workers might do better without the companies that held them back, says Mihir S Sharma.
'If you are so blinded by the Buy American, Hire American policy, if you are not going to be fair, consistent and welcoming, in the end America will lose out.'
Extensions of H-1B visas have become even tougher, in particular if the employee has been on a bench for any part of their previous duration.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told the Rajya Sabha that this is an issue of concern not just for the government and the Opposition, but the entire House and the nation shares this concern
Labelling All India United Democratic Front chief Badruddin Ajmal as the 'enemy of Assam', state minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday asserted that he is an extremist in protecting Indian and the Assamese culture.
'In other parts of India, people may feel their religious identity is more important, but here in Assam, we are Assamese first and then, anything else. So, we are against this CAB (now CAA). It will hurt the interests of us Assamese'
Amid headwinds across global markets, US issues fresh restrictions on H-1B visas. Ayan Pramanik & Raghu Krishnan list out the many ways in which this impacts the Indian IT industry.
From citizenship rights to hate crimes and police brutality, no wave of persecution in the US has left Indians completely untouched.
'All these people want is a secure home where they can live and earn in peace.'
The HMO said it will amend the rules to increase the time limit of filing of appeals in foreigners tribunals from 60 to 120 days for those who would be excluded from the final NRC.
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