NO COUNTRY FOR INDIAN TECHIES?

More states join Donald Trump ‘nation first’ bandwagon

UNITED STATES

President Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order that would make changes to a visa programme for high-skilled workers. The order seeks to ensure H-1B visas are awarded to the “most-skilled or highest-paid applicants”. About 85,000 H-1B visas are distributed annually by lottery. Many go to technology companies, which argue that the United States has a shortage of skilled technology workers.

Critics: The H1-B programme has been hijacked by staffing companies that use the visas to import foreigners — often from India — who will work for less than Americans.

Employers: It encourages qualified students to stay on, and they can’t always find enough Americans with the skills they need.

SINGAPORE

Singapore is also seeking to restrict access to Indian professionals employed in the IT sector. Visas for IT professionals to work in Singapore have dropped to a trickle recently. All Indian companies have received communication on fair consideration, which basically means hiring local people.

AUSTRALIA

Australia on Tuesday abolished the 457 visa programme used by over 95,000 temporary foreign workers, majority of them Indians. An ‘Australians first’ approach to be adopted to skilled migration. The 457 programme allowed business to employ foreign workers for up to 4 years in skilled jobs where there is a shortage of Australians.

washington — President Donald Trump heads to the politically important state of Wisconsin on Tuesday to sign an order aimed at curbing abuses in a visa programme used by technology companies that rely on highskilled foreign workers.

The order, dubbed “Buy American, Hire American,” marks a return to the populism Trump seemed to all but abandon with a series of recent reversals on economic policies.

Trump will sign the directive at the headquarters of tool manufacturer Snap-on Inc. in Kenosha, Wisconsin, a state he narrowly carried in November on the strength of support from white, working class voters. But Trump is currently facing a 41 percent approval in the state.

Trump is targeting the H-1B visa programme, which the White House says undercuts American workers by bringing in large numbers of cheaper, foreign workers, driving down wages.

The tech industry has argued that the H-1B program is needed because it encourages students to stay in the US after getting degrees in high-tech specialties — and they can’t always find enough American workers with the skills they need.

The order would direct US agencies to propose rules to prevent immigration fraud and abuse in the programme.

They would also be asked to offer changes so that H-1B visas are awarded to the “most-skilled or highest-paid applicants,” said administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity despite the president’s frequent criticism of the use of anonymous sources. —