The lawsuit seeks an order declaring the presidential proclamation restriction on issuing new H-1B or H4 visas or admitting new H-1B or H-4 visa holders as unlawful.
Nearly 23 officials signed the cable that went to Blinken and Director of Policy Planning Salman Ahmad, The Wall Street Journal added.
Undeterred by travel restrictions being put in place in anticipation of a third-wave of Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a steady growth in overseas job searches by Indians with the US, Canada, the Middle East and the UK topping the list, according to a report. The search activity from India for jobs in other countries was highest between November 2019 and April 2020, where it witnessed a 72 per cent jump, but it declined sharply after the second wave of Covid-19 hit the world, forcing nations to reinforce travel restrictions, global job site Indeed said in a report. However, soon after the world recovered from the second wave of the pandemic, job searches for overseas opportunities picked up and continued to remain steady, it stated.
Should we not stop uncritically celebrating NRIs' elevation without regard to what kind of companies they are getting to run, and the nature of their products or business practices, asks T N Ninan.
UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman is under fire from the Opposition and refugee activists for classifying an increase in the number of refugees landing on the country's shores seeking asylum as an "invasion" by migrants on the border.
Several individuals and organisations, including the US Chambers of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration's recent rules related to the H-1B visa, terming them "arbitrary" and "haphazard" regulations that will undermine high skilled immigration into America. Early this month, the Trump administration 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.
Three years after the horrific massacre of Sikh worshippers at the Oak Creek, Wisconsin, gurdwara by a gunman with ties to supremacist organisations, a federal system to help track hate crimes against Sikhs, Hindu, Arab American communities has been formalised.
The rumblings of discontent from Righteous Europe over Qatar's admittedly appalling human rights record can only be viewed as deeply disingenuous and phoney, argues Kanika Datta.
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.
The bill now heads to the White House for President Donald Trump's approval.
Seema Verma, who was confirmed by the Senate on a vote of 55-43, will play a key role in the government's bid to repeal and replace" Obamacare and head the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services that provides health services to 130 million people.
The changes if legalised would have a detrimental effect on the functioning of Indian tech companies in the US and also small and medium-sized contractual farms in the IT sector, which are mostly owned by Indian Americans.
They alleged that they fled from their country because of religious persecution from the Hindu majority.
Blinken blamed the COVID-19 pandemic for a backlog of visa applications from Indian nationals.
Indian-Americans have relatively more conservative views of policies in India while on issues affecting the US, the diaspora has a more liberal take, according to a survey of the political attitudes of the influential community in this country.
'It is never a good idea to let the broad population determine policy that is the domain of experts and specialists,' notes Aakar Patel.
US President Barack Obama's plan to shield up to 4.7 million undocumented immigrants from deportation may be immensely significant, but only a comprehensive legislation from the Congress with a larger goal could do justice to immigrant expectations.
Why are the poor turning Right instead of turning toward far-Left parties, ponders Pranab Bardhan.
On issues like the extradition of tycoon Vijay Mallya, which was already proceeding slowly, further delays should be expected, says Aditi Phadnis.
'Almost exclusively, their interest was in the work that we were doing that they thought of as being "anti-national". One of them even used that specific word,' says Aakar Patel.
The Indian nationals, who did not have a condition of regular stay in the country, were deported from the Toluca City International Airport on a Boeing 747 aircraft to New Delhi.
'If his three priorities are the economy, the economy, the economy, then there is need for a stable region, a stable neighbourhood.'
'We need to see more Indian Americans and people of colour hold elected office and serve in executive roles.'
Longtime diplomatic observers feel that if Narendra Modi were to become prime minister or even a Cabinet official if the BJP captures power in the next election, there is no way the State Department would refuse him entry into the US, unless Washington wanted to risk the unravelling of the carefully nurtured US-India strategic partnership. Rediff.com's Aziz Haniffa reports from Washington, DC.
The officer issued an advisory, saying the contents of the previous letter had been "misconstrued".
The guidance is certain to cause severe anxiety and uncertainty for the hundreds of thousands of international students who are studying in the country and for those who were preparing to arrive in the US to begin their education when the new academic session begins in September.
Former chancellor Rishi Sunak convincingly won over an audience of Conservative Party members in a head-to-head television debate with rival Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in the leadership contest to elect a new Tory party leader and British prime minister.
While the denial rate has dropped slightly to 21 per cent in 2019 from 24 per cent in 2018, the National Foundation for American Policy has said it is much higher for Indian IT companies like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Wipro and very low for American companies like Amazon and Google. For instance, the denial rate for TCS and Infosys in 2019 was 31 per cent and 35 per cent respectively, whereas for Wipro it was 47 per cent and 37 per cent for Tech Mahindra. On the other hand, the denial rate for the new H-1B petitions in 2019 was just four per cent each for Amazon and Google. The denial rate for Microsoft during the same period was six per cent, and Facebook along with Walmart was just three per cent each.
Britain's third female prime Minister, Liz Truss, was out of office on Thursday after the shortest tenure at 10 Downing Street in London and without a cherished India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) under her belt as a Brexit prize.
Unvaccinated tennis star Novak Djokovic won the right to take his fight against deportation from Australia to a Federal Court on Saturday after the government cancelled his visa for the second time over COVID-19 entry regulations.
Immigration Minister Alex Hawke's office said he was still considering whether to use his discretionary power to cancel Novak Djokovic's visa.
"Removing H-4 Dependent Spouses From the Class of Aliens Eligible for Employment Authorisation," said the US department of homeland security's unified agenda in the federal register notification of its semi-annual regulatory agenda.
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.
This was because his wife Anu was not able to join him in Seattle, due to the existing US law that said if a green card holder marries, his/her spouse's visa is rejected.
Indian-American engineer-entrepreneur Shrina Kurani challenges a 30-year Republican veteran in a US Congressional race in a district that is predominantly white.
'It's official: we won. I'm going to Albany to fight to tax the rich, heal the sick, house the poor & build a socialist New York. But I can't do it alone. To win socialism, we'll need a mass movement of the multiracial working class as well. So let's build one,' Mamdani tweeted.
"Fifteen years ago, I was leading the efforts to approve the historic civil nuclear deal with India. I said that if the US and India became closer friends and partners, then the world will be a safer place," Biden, who was vice-president in the Obama administration, said while addressing the Indian-American community on India's Independence Day.
Newly-elected Conservative Party leader and prime minister in waiting Liz Truss is among the senior British politicians known for championing deeper India-UK strategic and economic ties, describing them as a "sweet spot" of global trade dynamics.
Taking up the case of Indian IT companies and professionals, Jaitley told Ross about the contribution of highly-skilled Indians in the economic development of the United States and India and stressed that they should continue to do so, which is in the best interest of the two countries, officials said.
Highly skilled, English-speaking, and integrated into their communities, they are too valuable a resource to lose.
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