The Indian Panorama

Tag: H-1B

  • US Senate Introduces Bill For Doubling H1B Visa Cap

    US Senate Introduces Bill For Doubling H1B Visa Cap

    WASHINGTON (TIP): A bipartisan groupof top US Senators has introduced alegislation in the Senate aiming at severalchanges in immigration norms, includingdoubling of H-1B visa cap and establishing amarket-based escalator.The other proposed measures includerecapturing of unused Green Card numbers,eliminating country cap and recommendinga series of new provisions to provide legalpermanent residency to talented andbrilliant.Introduced by Senators Marco Rubio,Orrin Hatch, Amy Klobuchar, TheImmigration Innovation (I2) Act of 2013proposes to increase H-1B cap from 65,000 to115,000 and establish a market-based H-1Bescalator, so that the cap can adjust to thedemands of the economy.The bill includes a 300,000 ceiling on theability of the escalator to move.

    If the cap is hit in the first 45 days whenpetitions may be filed, an additional 20,000H-1B visas will be made availableimmediately.If it is hit in the first 60 days whenpetitions may be filed, an additional 15,000H-1B visas will be made availableimmediately and if the cap is hit in the first90 days when petitions may be filed, anadditional 10,000 H-1B visas will be madeavailable immediately.In case the cap is hit during the 185-dayperiod ending on the 275th day on whichpetitions may be filed, and additional 5,000H-1B will be made available immediately, thebill proposes and calls for uncapping theexisting US advanced degree exemption(currently limited to 20,000 per year).The legislation focuses on areas vital tokeep US competitiveness intact in the globaleconomy.

    It proposes increased access to GreenCards for high-skilled workers by expandingthe exemptions and eliminating the annualper country limits for employment basedGreen Cards.The legislation also aims at reforming thefees on H-1B and Green Cards so those feescan be used to promote American workerretraining and education.Furthermore, it authorizes employmentfor dependent spouses of H-1B visa holders,thus meeting a long pending demand.It also proposes to increase portability ofhigh skilled foreign workers by removingimpediments and costs of changingemployers, establishing a clear transitionperiod for foreign workers as they changejobs, and restoring visa revalidation for E,H, L, O, and P non-immigrant visacategories.

    The legislation, if passed by the Congressand signed into law by the US President,will enable the recapture of Green Cardnumbers that were approved by Congress inprevious years but were not used.It will exempt certain categories ofpersons from the employment-based GreenCard cap, including dependents ofemployment-based immigrant visarecipients, US STEM (Science, Technology,Engineering and Math) advance degreeholders, persons with extraordinary abilityand outstanding professors and researchers.The legislation also provides for the rolloverof unused employment-basedimmigrant visa numbers to the followingfiscal year so that future visas are not lostdue to bureaucratic delays, and eliminateannual per-country limits for employmentbased visa petitioners and adjust percountrycaps for family-based immigrantvisas.

    The legislation calls for reformingfees on H-1B visas and employment-basedGreen Cards and use money from these feesto fund a grant program to promote STEMeducation and worker. “Our immigrationsystem needs to be modernized to be morewelcoming of highly skilled immigrantsand the enormous contributions they canmake to our economy and society,” saidSenator Rubio.”This reform is as much aboutmodernizing our immigration system as itis about creating jobs. It’ll help us attractmore highly skilled workers, which will helpour unemployed, underemployed orunderpaid workers find better jobs,” he said.Senator Klobuchar called for making theUS a front-runner in research andinventions, and said the legislation willenvisage norms that will help hold back thetalented students in the country.”We don’t want them (the students)creating the next Medtronic or 3M in India,we want them creating it right here inMinnesota and across America,” he said.

  • Time To Move On To Immigration Reform

    Time To Move On To Immigration Reform

    President Obama has done well to speak out his mind on an important issue that has been hanging fire for many years now. It is giving status to more than 11 million undocumented immigrants. It is a question of accepting a work force that has contributed to the growth of America. It is a question of giving due dignity to people who have sweated it out to support their families back home and have given ungrudgingly to America their unflinching loyalty.

    I appreciate the Mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa who has recently stated that comprehensive Immigration reform is not amnesty. Villaraigosa announced a six-point plan, which includes a path to citizenship, family reunification, and smarter border enforcement. The California Democrat recently spoke with U.S. News about the urgency of immigration reform and the details of his proposal.

    To a question as to why comprehensive immigration reform is imperative now, the Mayor stated, ” We have had a broken immigration system for more than two decades. We have 11 million people who are here who are undocumented, who have 5 million citizen-children, and almost 2 million “Dreamers” [undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children] who know no other country but this one.”

    I am tempted to quote here a few excerpts from the Mayor’s statement. “A temporary status, second-class citizenship, cannot and will not be a comprehensive immigration policy. It’s not amnesty, it’s earned. You have to prove you’ve been here for a period of time. You have to pay your back taxes. You have to get at the end of the line. You have to learn English and have some knowledge of the country if you want to be a citizen. What’s the alternative? The [mass] deportation of 11 million people? No country in the world has ever deported 11 million people, and this great country certainly won’t be the first.”

    Speaking about the economic incentives for the immigration reform, Villaraigosa said, “There’s a $1.5 trillion economic impact, according to the Center for American Progress. The Dreamers alone, it’s estimated, will have a $329 billion impact over a 10-year period. And the reason is this: You’re bringing these people from out of the dark and into the light. What happens when you do that? You encourage them to get an education, you encourage them to improve their job skills. They’re encouraged to seek better jobs. They contribute more to our Social Security system.

    President Obama has said that we should attach a green card to the diploma of people who come here getting bachelor’s degrees, particularly in science and math. [Also, H-1B] visas need to be expanded, and we need to make sure that we have a program that makes sense in the agricultural sector.”

    I hope, Mayor Villaraigosa will soon take up the issue with lawmakers in Washington and see the fruition of his labor.

  • India may move WTO against US visa fee hike by October end

    India may move WTO against US visa fee hike by October end

    NEW DELHI (TIP): India is expected to soon seek consultations with the US under the aegis of World Trade Organisation (WTO) on visa fee hike for professionals, which discriminates against Indian software companies that send employees to America on short-term contracts.

    Although the commerce ministry had internally started the process in April, collecting all the relevant information and data to make a strong case in the WTO is taking time, a senior official in Delhi told media

    “But now we have finalized our case. We are putting all the evidences together. The US visa fee hike is a discriminatory move against Indian IT firms. We are expecting that by October end, we will formally file the complaint and seek consultations under WTO,” the official said.

    The US had raised visa fee in 2010 to fund its enhanced costs on securing border with Mexico under the Border Security Act. India has been protesting against the measure at different forums.

    An American law (Emergency Border Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2010) has substantially increased the fees for H-1B and L-1 categories of visas for applicants that employ more than 50 employee in the US or have more than 50 per cent of their employees admitted on non-immigrant visas (called the “50/50 rule”).

    “… which is prima facie discriminatory for Indian companies,” Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jyotiraditya Scindia had said earlier.

    According to industry experts the H1B visa fee has been increased to USD 2,000 per visa application and L1 by USD 2,700 per visa application.

    Some of the top Indian companies–TCS, Infosys, Wipro and Mahindra Satyam– were affected by the US action on visa fee. The US is the largest market for the Indian software exports.

    As per the procedure of WTO, consultation is the first stage of a complaint filed with the global trade body.
    Consultations give the parties an opportunity to discuss the matter and to find a satisfactory solution without proceeding further. After 60 days, if consultations fail to resolve the dispute, the complainant may request adjudication by a panel.

    In April, India had complained that the US had wrongly imposed countervailing duties, a kind of restrictive duty, on certain hot-rolled carbon steel flat products from India.

    “We have asked for setting up of panel under the WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism on the steel issue,” the official said.