WASHINGTON: The Trump administration has temporarily suspended the expedited premium processing of H-1B visas, as part of its cleaning of its guest worker program. The move came despite New Delhi's pressure on the US asking it for a fair and rational approach on the matter from a trade and business perspective.
The administrative decision came mere hours after top Indian officials, including foreign secretary S Jaishankar, and commerce secretary Rita Teotia, urged Trump cabinet officials and lawmakers to view the H-1B visa issue as a trade and services matter, and not an immigration one during their visit to the US.
The US assured India that the work visas would be dealt with only as part of a larger immigration reforms package. "There was a sense that there is a recognition of the contribution of the Indian tech sector. Certainly this is not very much... not a priority of the (US) government. They are concerned with the immigration issue... most of the issues are quite different. Nevertheless, when it is addressed, it would be part of the overall immigration package," said Teotia.
By paying an additional $1,225 premium, companies can have an H-1B application processed within 15 days, whereas a standard process takes three to six months. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) brought the axe down on the expedited processing system which has until now, been used by several Indian and American companies to facilitate entry of tens of thousands of skilled professionals for project work in the US. It said the suspension may last up to six months.
The suspension applies to petition requests after April 3, 2017, effectively nixing the guest worker programme for this year. Usually, there are three times as many petitions as the 85,000 H-1B visa limit, and firms use the expedited process- more than half of which come from India. However, USCIS has long believed that there has also been systemic abuse of the programme by unscrupulous body-shopping firms. The temporary suspension, it said, will enable it to "process long-pending petitions."
Meanwhile, Jaishankar expressed a "strong sense of optimism" that US-India ties continues to be on an upward trajectory as he has already done the groundwork for cabinet-level exchanges that will conclude during PM Narendra Modi's visit to the US. "Overall, our sense was this administration has a positive view of the relationship and of India. We saw a lot of goodwill...lot of interest in taking it forward," Jaishankar said.
"If the Trump Administration's intention is to bring back American companies to America and attract more foreign investment in America and therefore have more growth in the near term, then it was important growing America remains competitive. So, there would actually be (a) growing need for this partnership," Jaishankar said.
