New rule a mixed bag for Indian job-seekers

President Donald Trump’s order restricting H-1B visas evoked mixed response among Indian students and I-T professionals on Wednesday even as industry body NASSCOM said the move will not impact Indians immediately.

Thousands of Indian professionals are employed by American companies annually through these time-limited work permits meant for scientists, engineers and computer programmers.

The Trump administration says the order – which will need legislative approval to be implemented – is aimed at “abuse” of the H1B visa programme and giving jobs back to Americans, one of his major campaign promises.

Neha Gayal, an engineer seeking immigration opportunities to the US, said the order will mostly impact students who pass out from poorly ranked colleges. “Many companies employed people passing out from mediocre engineering colleges on low wages and took them to US,” said Gayal who graduated from a government college in Pune. “This will probably stop now.”

I-T professional Mangesh Joshi said the order will adversely affect Indian job-seekers as the “US will block visa applications seeking low wages”.

The US offers 85,000 H-1B visas every year, most of which are snapped up by Indian outsourcers whose employees fill a skill gap in US engineering. Applications are oversubscribed and are allocated via lottery system.

Akash Rathi, a fresh graduate from Pune, said the new changes may actually help Indians. “While Indians have been the biggest beneficiaries of H-1B visas, the expected change of substantial increase in minimum salary level might force the IT companies to take away US jobs elsewhere to countries like India.” According to Kishore Kumar Kovuru, a software engineer who returned to India after working in the US for a decade, Indians who were getting extension of H-1B visa every two years might find it difficult now.

NASSCOM issued a statement on Wednesday, cautioning the US government that “hindering access to needed talent” could only harm American companies.

“Any onerous additional restrictions on the H-1B...would hurt thousands of US businesses and their efforts to be more competitive by hindering access to needed talent,” NASSCOM said.