IT firms sue US agency that grants H-1B visas

WASHINGTON:ITSERVE Alliance, an association of IT firms owned and run mostly by Indian-americans, has sued the US agency that grants and oversees the H-1B temporary visa programme for highly skilled foreigners.

“Like every employer in the IT industry, Itserve members have difficulty hiring enough US workers to meet the demand. Our members seek H-1B visas to fill the gap between the supply and demand for IT professionals in these specialised fields,” Gopi Kandukuri, president of the Dallas-based organisation, said.

Itserve filed the suit against the US Citizenship and Immigration Services on October 11.

Ever since President Donald Trump took office, the US has been tightening immigration rules, even for those entering legally, through a series of measures with the stated objective of ensuring Americans have the first shot at jobs which they are denied because of cheaper hands from abroad. The US grants 65,000 H-1B visas to foreigners hired from abroad every year, and 20,000 to international students enrolled in its universities.

Itserve had also challenged an earlier USCIS order that sought stricter enforcement for foreigners hired on H-1B for third-party contracts, essentially for outsourced operations.

“Some companies are finding it difficult to operate their businesses in a rational way,” Stuart Anderson of the National Foundation for American Policy, wrote about the new lawsuit in Forbes. An H-1B visa holder can stay and work in the US for up to three years, but companies that file applications to hire foreigners are complaining they are frequently getting shorter duration stays than requested.