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Spouses, kids kept out of US visa cap
Source: Economic Times
MUMBAI: Visa numbers to the tune of 140,000 are available per year for employment-based immigration, of which each country has a limit of 7%, or about 10,000 visas each.
Due to a massive backlog of applicants, the US department of state recently announced a change that would effectively increase the waiting period for certain categories of applicants to up to seven years or more.
The provisions to be taken up by the committee would come as a huge relief to the thousands of Indians affected by these delays.
The idea is to include within the world-wide level of employment-based immigration visas the current quota of 140,000 plus the number of unused family-based visas from the previous year; and in addition, the number of unused employment-based immigrant visas from all previous fiscal years or 90,000, whichever is less.
Spouses and children, currently included in the overall cap, would no longer be counted towards this limit, substantially increasing the number of visas on offer.
These proposals have gained momentum due to sustained lobbying by the US business community. The lack of H-1Bs has meant that employers no longer have access to highly-skilled foreign nationals who are essential to their businesses.
Recently, nearly 400 businesses from across America wrote to the Congress urging that the number of H-1B visas be increased.
Similar lobbying has come from groups like Compete America, a coalition of over 200 corporations, universities, research institutions and trade associations.
Source: Economic Times
MUMBAI: Visa numbers to the tune of 140,000 are available per year for employment-based immigration, of which each country has a limit of 7%, or about 10,000 visas each.
Due to a massive backlog of applicants, the US department of state recently announced a change that would effectively increase the waiting period for certain categories of applicants to up to seven years or more.
The provisions to be taken up by the committee would come as a huge relief to the thousands of Indians affected by these delays.
The idea is to include within the world-wide level of employment-based immigration visas the current quota of 140,000 plus the number of unused family-based visas from the previous year; and in addition, the number of unused employment-based immigrant visas from all previous fiscal years or 90,000, whichever is less.
Spouses and children, currently included in the overall cap, would no longer be counted towards this limit, substantially increasing the number of visas on offer.
These proposals have gained momentum due to sustained lobbying by the US business community. The lack of H-1Bs has meant that employers no longer have access to highly-skilled foreign nationals who are essential to their businesses.
Recently, nearly 400 businesses from across America wrote to the Congress urging that the number of H-1B visas be increased.
Similar lobbying has come from groups like Compete America, a coalition of over 200 corporations, universities, research institutions and trade associations.
