10 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT THE H-1B VISA

US authorities have tightened the norms for hiring computer programmers, putting a squeeze on Indian IT companies over the issue of H1-B visas. The Trump administration has issued a stern warning to American firms as they began applying for skilled-worker

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H1-B is a non-immigrant visa that allows employers based in the United States to employ foreign workers. This is valid initially for three yars and can later be extended up to six. For such a visa, the company concerned must offer a job to an employee and then apply for the H1-B visa with the US Immigration Department.

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Every year, on April 1, US immigration authorities open a fresh cap for H1-B visa applications. Applicants can legally apply for an H1-B visa on the first weekday in April. Allotment is done on a lottery basis.

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Applications for this year’s batch of visas opened on April 3, with quotas and allocations for the controversial program essentially unchanged.

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The US has an annual cap of 85,000 for H1-B visas, including 20,000 for foreign workers with advanced degrees from the US.

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The H1-B visa application fee, originally, was $325. Another $500 was added as Prevention and Detection Fee and $1,500 per visa application as Employer Sponsorship fee for employers with 26 or more employees.

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In 2016, there were 236,000 applications for just 65,000 available visas.

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Although there is no allotment quota for any country, however, a total of 6,800 are usually set aside for Singapore and Chile citizens in keeping with their free trade agreement.

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Indian IT companies like HCL, TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Cognizant, and L&T Infotech are among the major users of H1-B visas. Big US employers of H1-B include Microsoft, Google, Amazon, IBM, Accenture, Syntel, Apple, etc.

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The changed visa norms will impact the Indian IT companies in general and computer programmers in particular. The latter will feel the heat first as merely obtaining a computer degree may not be enough to get an H-1B visa.

10

Spouses of US immigrants on H1-B visas could lose their right to work. As per norms, H-1B visa holders can bring immediate spouse and children under 21 to the United States under the H-4 visa category as dependents. This move will affect thousands of Indians who are living there in the US on H-4 visa. Almost 72 percent of all the H1-B visas issued by the US worldwide went to Indians. A group called Save Jobs USA filed a lawsuit, which is in a federal appeals court, the Department of Homeland Security’s did not have the authority to create a new employment visa category.