The new H-1B visa regime, which increases the number of US visas available for Indian skilled workers, is helping the information technology (IT) industry, experts said.
Ban on multiple applications leads to fairness
MUMBAI: The new H-1B visa regime, which increases the number of US visas available for Indian skilled workers, is helping the information technology (IT) industry, experts said. Also, the ban on multiple applications, something most firms did rampantly, is expected to streamline the process.
The US has proposed to raise the H-1B visa quota for Indians by 25% and has barred employers from filing more than one H-1B visa application for a worker in a fiscal year. The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa, which allows a US company to employ a foreign individual for up to six years. “I think it is a big positive for the industry. US needs qualified people from all over the world and what better source for skilled people than India? This is a growing industry and had always been demanding higher visa availability,” Keshav Murugesh, president and chief operating officer, Syntel a U.S.-listed company having a majority of its operations in India.
Come April 1, half a million applications are expected to be filed for a five-day lottery to distribute 65,000 visas for fiscal 2009 beginning October 1.
An additional 20,000 visas will be available for foreign nationals who receive advanced degrees from US universities. To ensure a fair and orderly distribution of available H-1B visas, US would deny multiple petitions filed by an employer for the same H-1B worker and would not refund the filing fees.
Industry watchers said this would bring in greater discipline within the companies since being a lottery system, to hedge their risks, companies filed applications which were several times their requirement in the hope of getting the required ones.
It also tended to benefit the bigger companies since they could afford to pay visa fees several times their original requirements. The changes will ensure that companies filing H-1B petitions have an equal chance to employ an H-1B worker. “This (ban) would streamline the process from the government’s perspective,” Amar Chintopaln, chief financial officer, 3i Infotech said.
Experts say even with a hike in limit, the number of available visas would be inadequate. Last year, H-1B visas were snapped up in two days. Companies like Google and Microsoft are big proponents of raising the limit of H1B. Microsoft founder Bill Gates has said on multiple platforms that each H-1B translates into four additional local jobs.
g_rabin@dnaindia.net
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