Trump’s tweak may send Indian techies home

“If it has been left to their discretion,” said a lobbyist. “They can theoretically decide not to grant any extension at all.”

A response was awaited to HT’S request for comments from the DHS and the USCIS.

The Indian government is watching t he development closely, as it has with mounting alarm the administration’s previously announced plans and decisions to tighten H-1B rules and regulations to prevent the abuse of the programme to replace American workers with lower-paid foreigners.

One of them was the plan to rollback in February the H-4 EAD – a regulation introduced by president Barack Obama to attract and retain highly skilled foreign workers by granting work authorisation to spouses of H-1B visa holders waiting for Green Cards. That will again mostly impact Indians.

The administration has also unveiled plans to redefine high speciality professionals for the purpose of H-1B visas. An overall review of the programme was also ordered by Trump last year.

The US grants 85,000 non-immigrant H-1B visas every year – 65,000 to foreigners hired abroad and 20,000 to foreigners enrolled in advanced degree courses in US schools and colleges. An estimated 70% of these visas go to Indians – hired mostly by American companies such as Facebook, Microsoft and Google and some by US operations of Indian tech giants such as Infosys, Wipro and TCS.

The US companies, which are large employers of foreign workers but escape the scrutiny facing Indian firms, will be hit the hardest as they are more likely to apply for Green Cards for their H-1B workers than their Indian counterparts, who tend to rotate their workers home at the end of the stipulated period.

These big companies can be expected to push back as well, as could the chamber of commerce. A response was awaited from Compete America, a trade body representing Silicon Valley hi-tech firms in Washington.