BackIndia seeks predictability in US Visa regime after latest revisions
Every year, Indians and Indian companies corner a large number of the H1B work permits issuedThe department has received about 250,000 H1B work visa applications with Indians accounting for 184,000 or 67 % of the total H1B work visas
PremiumNEW DELHI : India on Thursday said it had sought predictability in the US visa regime after a number of changes were recently incorporated in the rules governing the issuance of the H1B visa popular with Indian IT software professionals.
“The people to people relationship is a special foundation" of the US India relationship, Indian foreign ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava told reporters at a regular foreign office briefing.
“In our engagements we have emphasized that this mutually beneficial partnership must be nurtured. We are engaged with the US government for increasing predictability in the visa regime," he said adding that New Delhi had also stressed on the need to minimize the inconvenience faced by those in the US and those who need to travel to the US for bonafide reasons.
The government of India “will continue to monitor developments in this regard," he added.
Earlier this month, the US had announced some changes to rules governing the H1B including the need for companies and agencies hiring workers on H1B visas to prove to the immigration agencies that such employees are not available from the domestic pool of US workers.
Every year, the US administration issues 85,000 H1B work permits of which 65,000 are for people with specialty occupations, while the rest 20,000 are reserved for those foreign workers who have earned a masters or higher university degree in the US. Every year, Indians and Indian companies corner a large number of the H1B work permits issued. According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the department has received about 250,000 H1B work visa applications with Indians accounting for 184,000 or 67 % of the total H1B work visas.
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