India’s GDP might be affected by recently proposed changes in visa program.
Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has given in writing to Lok Sabha that the US has not taken any measures to make ‘comprehensive changes’ to its H-1B visa program despite India’s repeated appeal.
In a letter to the members of Lok Sabha, Sitharaman said that the government of India has taken up H-1B visa issue from time to time at different levels of the US government, but they have not received a positive response in the form of comprehensive changes.
Adding to this, Sitharaman said that the government of India has also taken up the concerns of the hike in the visa fee with the World Trade Organization (WTO).
“The US has not made any comprehensive changes to the work visa programs including H-1B visas so far,” she said.
She also wrote in the letter that the government has also raised concerns with the Trump administration on a variety of issues related to IT and ITeS sector during the various bilateral meetings held between the two nations, the latest one being the Trade Policy Forum.
India has been directly affected by the recent changes introduced by the Trump administration on the work visa front. Indian IT Industry is heavily dependent on the US job market and any changes to the visa system, especially the H-1B, will have an adverse impact on Indian IT industry.
The recent changes to the H-1B visa system recommended by the Trump administration have intimidated the Indian IT companies as it could result in higher operational costs and a shortage of skilled workers for the $110 billion Indian outsourcing industry.
The IT sector of India is one of the major funding sources for the country’s GDP, constituting about 9.3 percent, and accounts for 3.7 million jobs.
Close to 62 percent of the exports carried out by Indian IT companies are to the US with the European Union in the second place with 28 percent.
In April, Trump had signed an executive order Buy American, Hire American to end the visa abuse by asking the federal agencies to review the existing H-1B visa norms that allow highly skilled foreign immigrants to work in the US.
There are also reports that the government is considering to ask companies seeking H-1B visas to advertise the job via US-based online portals.
Speculations are ripe that the current regime might even reduce the existing visa cap and cut short the duration of the stay of H-1B visa holders.