India urges US to increase predictability in H1-B visa processing

Stressing the importance of creating “People-to-people relationship” India urged US to increase predictability and “minimise inconvenience” on its visa regime. The response came in the wake of the proposal made by the US aimed at scraping the computerised lottery system for H-1B visas and replacing it with a wage-level-based selection process.

“We are engaged with the US government for increasing predictability in the visa regime and to minimise the inconvenience being faced by those in the US or those who need to travel to the US for bonafide reasons,” said Anurag Srivastava, spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), at a media briefing Thursday.

” New Delhi will continue to monitor developments on this issue”, Srivastava said.

“People-to-people relationship is an important foundation of the special relationship between India and the US. In our engagements, we have emphasised that this has been a mutually-beneficial partnership which should be nurtured,” the MEA spokesperson added.

Earlier on Wednesday the U.S governement had made a proposal to scrap the prevailing computerised lottery system to grant H-1B work visas to foreign technology professionals and replace it with a wage-level-based selection process, a move that is expected to counter the downward pressure on the wages of US workers,according to a report by PTI.

A notification published by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had allowed stakeholders 30 days for responding in this regard.

Replacing the computerized draw of lots to decide on the successful H-1B applicants, the DHS said it is expected to help counter the downward pressure on the wages of American workers that is created by an annual influx of relatively lower-paid, new cap-subject H-1B workers.