H-1B visas News

On H-1B visas, there is some good news for Indians! H-1B visas is a non-immigrant visa that allows American companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.

President Donald Trump's executive order restricting entry of skilled foreign workers into the US, mainly on H-1B and L-1 visas, has resulted in an estimated loss of USD 100 billion to companies and will have lasting negative impacts on firms here, according to a prominent American think-tank.

Premium processing is a feature that shortens the usual processing time of H-1B visa petitions from an average of six months to 15 calendar days for a fee of USD 1,225 (Rs 86,181). It allowed some companies to jump the queue.

The US government said on Monday it would resume fast processing of H-1B visas requested by institutions of higher education and nonprofit and governmental research organizations, while leaving in place a longer approval time for companies that use the visas.

US Labour Secretary Alexander Acosta has called for increasing the minimum salary of foreign workers on H-1B visas, the most sought-after by Indian IT firms, from the existing USD 60,000 to at least USD 80,000.

Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka has refuted the general impression that the Indian IT industry is overly dependent on H-1B visas.

IT services giant Infosys on Tuesday said it remains "committed" to its guidance of 6.5-8.5 per cent revenue growth this year even as some clients ask for projects to be carried out at 30-40 per cent lower costs than before.

The Bill is likely to benefit Indians given that they constitute the largest number of students doing PhD in the US.

A top Republican lawmaker has demanded abolition of the lottery system in allocating H-1B visas, the most sought-after by Indian IT professionals, to restore the original purpose of the programme to bring the "best and brightest" to the country.

Infosys' plan to hire 10,000 Americans is "less of a cause" for celebration than it appears as the need of the hour is a comprehensive H-1B reform than the pledge by the Indian technology giant to create jobs in the US, a leading American daily has said.

IT industry body Nasscom on Monday came out in defence of its members TCS and Infosys, saying the two accounted for only 7,504 -- 8.8 per cent -- of the approved H-1B visas in 2014-15.

The vexed issue of the Trump administration mulling curbs in H-1B visas has been taken up with by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley with the American authorities during his ongoing visit, an Indian official said on Sunday.

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that calls for a review of the H-1B visa programme, saying they should never be used to replace American workers and must be given to the most skilled and highest paid applicants.

US President Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order that would tighten the process of issuing the H-1B visas and seek a review of the system for creating an "entirely new structure" for awarding these visas, the most sought-after by Indian IT firms and professionals.

Industry body Nasscom on Sunday said that US' decision to temporarily suspend the expedited premium processing of H-1B visas will lead to process delays for Indian IT firms too.

The US has assured India that the H-1B visas issue was not a priority for it and would be part of the larger immigration reforms package that the new Trump administration is working on.

The US on Friday said it is temporarily suspending the 'premium processing' of H-1B visas from April 3, eliminating the option of shorter wait times for the programme that helps highly skilled foreigners work at American firms.

The US government is believed to have received about 250,000 petitions for H-1B visas - the most sought after American work visas - with a majority of them being from either Indian companies or having huge footprint in India.  

Majority of these estimated 250,000 H-1B visa applications are "certainly" either by companies that have Indian owner like TCS.

Two US Senators have introduced a bipartisan legislation in the Senate seeking reform of H-1B visa programme and modify wage requirements while also calling for a sense of urgency against the "abuse of the system" over a scheme they claim has gotten away from its original intent.