US Work Visas Plan: H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows American companies to hire foreign workers in specific occupations. Technology companies recruit thousands of employees every year from countries like India and China. Only 20,000 candidates will be included in the pilot program and it was announced when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the US in June.
Washington: The US is going to launch a pilot program in December to renew certain categories of H-1B visas, which will especially benefit a large number of Indian technology professionals.
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows American companies to hire foreign workers in specific occupations. Technology companies recruit thousands of employees every year from countries like India and China. Only 20,000 candidates will be included in the pilot program and it was announced when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the US in June.
America does not want the waiting period to be long
“The demand (for US visas) in India is still very high,” Julie Stiff, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services, said in an interview. We do not want the waiting period to be six, eight and 12 months. “We want to ensure that passengers get an interview as soon as possible,” he said. On the one hand, we are doing it through the domestic visa renewal program which is largely focused on India. Over a period of three months from December, the Ministry of External Affairs will issue 20,000 visas to foreign nationals who are already in the country.
20,000 visas will be issued in the first group
He said, “We will issue 20,000 visas in the first group. The majority of this will be Indian citizens living in America and we will expand it further. Stiff said, “Since Indians are the largest group of skilled professionals in America, we hope that India will benefit from this and people will get visas.” There will be no need to go back to India or anywhere else for renewal and give interviews.
This was announced during PM Modi’s visit
The Ministry of External Affairs had been working towards starting such a program on an experimental basis for some time, but it was formally announced during PM Modi’s visit. Stiff said the US has successfully completed a pilot program to issue “paperless visas”, after which stamping visas or pasting paper on passports will now be a thing of the past.
This step is important- Indian-American community leaders
The US recently completed a small-scale program at its diplomatic mission in Dublin and is planning to launch it on a larger scale. Stiff said, “It will probably take 18 months or more for us to see its widespread use…” In a statement, Indian-American community leader Ajay Jain Bhutoria described the State Department’s move as “significant”.
