India Expresses Concern After H-1B Visa Bill Is Introduced In The US Senate

New Delhi has expressed concern over possible backlash on Indians after the US Senate tabled a bill to revise guidelines for H-1B visas, used to bring foreign workers to the country to fill high-skilled jobs.

The Indian External Affairs Ministry on Tuesday said it has sent feedback to the highest level in the US.

"India¡¯s interests and concerns have been conveyed both to the US administration and US Congress at senior levels,making" MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

BCCL

The possibility of Indians being affected by the regulation was immediately felt at the stock exchange on Tuesday as shares major Indian IT companies including TCS, Infosys and Wipro went down by as much as 5 per cent.

The US House of Representatives had on Monday tabled a bill which aims to regulate the H1-B visa which is most popular among Indian techies.

AFP

The new proposal asks for the minimum salary of those on H-1B visas to be doubled to $130,000 a year and makes it difficult for tech giants to hire foreign workers, including Indians, over Americans.

The move is to make US tech companies hire more American professionals, which would adversely affect Indians.

H1-B visas are issued to qualified professionals. A related visa is the L1, which is given to employees of a company who are transferred to the US.

AFP

Both of them are used extensively by Indian companies. In 2015, President Barack Obama's administration permitted spouses of H1-B visa-holders to get permission to work.

According to ComputerWorld magazine, nearly 86 per cent of H1-B visas for computer-related jobs and 46.5 per cent for engineering positions were given to Indians. The US issues 85,000 H1-B visas every year, of which 20,000 are for master's degree holders from US universities.

Because of the large number of applicants - 236,000 in 2016 - the H1-B visas were issued through a lottery system.

AP

During his campaign and afterwards, Trump criticised the work visa system for the abuses in the way visas were obtained and the impact on American technology workers. He vowed in a speech in December 2016, to end the practice of laid off American workers being made to train foreigners brought over to replace them.