America First: New H-1B visa policy by US spells 'doom' for Indian IT firms, professionals

The USCIS announcement indicated that the US government is going to be tough and stringent in approval of H-1B visas this year.

Washington, April 4: Following on US President Donald Trump's election campaign promise of creating more jobs for Americans, the US Department of Homeland Security on Monday announced steps to prevent the fraudulent use of H-1B visas, used by employers to bring in specialised foreign workers temporarily.

The H-1B work visas are the most sought after by Indian IT firms and professionals. Thus there is a large-scale fear among the Indian IT companies and workers that the tightening of visa rules by the US administration would substantially decrease the flow of Indian IT professionals from India to America.

A lot of entry or mid-level engineers from India dreaming to work in the US, now won't be able to get permission to work in America. The new visa guidelines state that only high-skilled workers from abroad would be given H-IB visas. Moreover, Indian IT companies operating in the US won't be able to hire native Indians at a lower cost for low and mid-level jobs.

The latest measures were said to 'deter and detect' what the US administration described as 'fraud and abuse' of H-1B work visas.

The announcement by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services comes on a day on which the federal agency started accepting applications for H-1B visas for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2017.

The USCIS announcement indicated that the US government is going to be tough and stringent in approval of H-1B visas this year.

The USCIS has a Congressional mandate to issue 65,000 H-1B visas in general category and another 20,000 for those applicants having higher education -- masters and above -- from US universities in the field of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Asserting that its multiple measures announced on Monday will further 'deter and detect H-1B visa fraud and abuse', the USCIS said the H-1B visa programme should help US companies recruit highly-skilled foreign nationals when there is a shortage of qualified workers in the country.

"Yet, too many American workers who are as qualified, willing and deserving to work in these fields have been ignored or unfairly disadvantaged. Protecting American workers by combating fraud in our employment-based immigration programs is a priority for the USCIS," a statement said.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows American firms to employ foreign workers in occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year.

During his election campaign, Trump had promised to increase oversight of our H-1B and L-1 visa programmes. The Indian IT giants are yet to issue any statement in this regard.

OneIndia News