Work visa programme benefits US, India: Study

bangalore — The controversial H-1B visa programme, widely criticised for costing American workers their jobs, has actually provided economic benefits for both the US and India, according to a new study from researchers at the Centre for Global Development and the University of Michigan.

The combined incomes for the two countries as a result of the US visa programme rose by about $17.3 billion or 0.36 per cent, and the total IT output from both countries rose by about 0.45 per cent in 2010, says researcher Gaurav Khanna of the Centre for Global Development and Nicolas Morales at the University of Michigan. While recognising negative repercussions for some workers, the study said that on the whole US-born employees were wealthier by about $431 million in 2010 because of the programme.

“The average worker in each country is better off because of immigration, and US native workers have made big gains because

the average worker in each country is better off because of immigration, and us native workers have made big gains because of the H-1B visa programme Gaurav Khanna, researcher at Centre for Global Development

of the H-1B visa programme,” said Khanna.

The research report titled “The IT Boom and Other Unintended Consequences of Chasing the American Dream” is an in-depth look at the H-1B visa programme and its impact on the US and Indian economies since the early 2000s. The visa programme allows companies in the US to employ skilled foreign workers in specialty occupations.

India’s outsourcing companies, including Infosys Ltd, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd and Wipro Ltd, have been the leading recipients of H-1B visas, which they use to send employees to work at customer sites in the US. — Bloomberg