All you need to know about the H1-B visa programme Bill

[JANASENA]

The scene outside th US Embassy , in New Delhi.   | Photo Credit: S. Subramanium

 

Donald Trump had promised to end the misuse of visa programmes by companies to undercut American workers, referring to an incident that involved Indian companies and IT professionals on H1-B visas.

A Bill backing key changes in the H1-B visa programme that allows skilled workers from other countries to fill jobs in the U.S. has been reintroduced in Congress by two lawmakers. The Bill comes after a number of companies — Disney, SoCal Edison and others — have come under fire for abusing the programme.

Here is a look at the Bill and what it proposes.

What is a H1-B visa?

The H1-B visa is a non-immigrant visa given by the United States to employ skilled workers from other countries for various specialised fields of occupation for a certain period of time.

What is the H1-B visa programme Bill?

- The Bill prohibits companies from hiring H1-B employees if they employ more than 50 people and more than 50 per cent of their employees are H1-B and L-1 visa holders.

- The Bill encourages companies to recruit American workers. This provision would crack down on outsourcing companies that import large numbers of H-1B and L-1 workers for short training periods and then send these workers back to their home country to do the work of Americans, the Senators who introduced the Bill had said.

 

- It explicitly prohibits replacement of American workers by H1-B or L-1 visa holders.

- The Bill seeks to give the Department of Labour enhanced authority to review, investigate and audit employer compliance as well as to penalise fraudulent or abusive conduct.

- The Bill seeks to increase the minimum salary of H1-B visa holders to $1,00,000 per annum

- Currently, firms need not go through extensive paperwork if the potential H1-B employee has an equivalent of a Master’s degree or higher and he or she is paid at least $60,000 annually. The Bill aims to do away with the Master’s degree exemption (as “they are easily obtained by foreign workers”).

What is President-elect Donald Trump’s stand on the issue?

 

Donald Trump promised to end the misuse of visa programmes by companies to undercut American workers, referring to an incident that involved Indian companies and IT professionals on H1-B visas. Mr. Trump did not name India or the particular visa category. However, it was clear that he was referring to HCL Inc. and Cognizant Technology Solutions that hired Indian IT professionals on H1-B visas for contracts obtained from Disney World in Orlando, Florida. “My administration will follow a simple rule — buy American, hire American. Years earlier we used to take pride in buying things ‘Made in America’. We love our companies, but we don’t love them when they go out of our country. There will be consequences,” Mr. Trump said at an event.

How will the Bill affect Indian companies?

The Indian IT industry believes that this Bill does not address the root cause of the problem – shortage of STEM skills (or those in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) in the U.S. “There is a perception that companies pay low salaries to people who are sent to work on these visas…High-skilled IT workers on temporary visas earn competitive salaries and cost their employers as much or more than their American counterparts. There are various studies which point this out,” said Shivendra Singh, Vice President and Head, Global Trade Development at Nasscom. Apart from the visa curbs, the U.S. had also recently hiked the visa fee for certain categories of the H1-B and L1 visas which has had an impact on Indian companies.

[argadorn]

The Bill aims to do away with the Master’s degree exemption (as “they are easily obtained by foreign workers”).

 

 

edhi endhuku thesthunado ardma avatledhu...students ekade unnaru eductaed and skillfull but why 

[JANASENA]

Min Salary $100K ani ela decide chestharu ? s/w lo 5 yrs exp unnavallu untaru 10 exp unnavallu untaru so iddariki 100K ishtara ? 

okavela min 100k untey H4 EADs and OPTs ni recruit chesukuntaru ga takkuva salaries ki ? throw some light

[JANASENA]

Min salary 100K antey desi consultancy gaallu pay chesthara aslau endukantey manollaki tindame tappa pettadam teleedu ga 

[k2s]

Very nice

[princeofheaven]

2 minutes ago, JANASENA said:

Min salary 100K antey desi consultancy gaallu pay chesthara aslau endukantey manollaki tindame tappa pettadam teleedu ga 

100k payroll running and 30k have to give back in check or in India

[BommaliNinnodhala]

1 minute ago, JANASENA said:

Min salary 100K antey desi consultancy gaallu pay chesthara aslau endukantey manollaki tindame tappa pettadam teleedu ga 

dochukovalsinantha dochukunaaru...sagam will shutdown expecting the futureee to be more strict....migitha sagam will find loophoooo;es and come with a plan

[boeing747]

4 minutes ago, BommaliNinnodhala said:

dochukovalsinantha dochukunaaru...sagam will shutdown expecting the futureee to be more strict....migitha sagam will find loophoooo;es and come with a plan

correst baa...dochukovatam alavatu padina batch will find loopholes 

[JANASENA]

6 minutes ago, princeofheaven said:

100k payroll running and 30k have to give back in check or in India

[lepuraja]

20 minutes ago, JANASENA said:

Min Salary $100K ani ela decide chestharu ? s/w lo 5 yrs exp unnavallu untaru 10 exp unnavallu untaru so iddariki 100K ishtara ? 

okavela min 100k untey H4 EADs and OPTs ni recruit chesukuntaru ga takkuva salaries ki ? throw some light

Min 100K max can be anything. You red bus fellow 

[Srimantudu]

22 minutes ago, JANASENA said:

Min Salary $100K ani ela decide chestharu ? s/w lo 5 yrs exp unnavallu untaru 10 exp unnavallu untaru so iddariki 100K ishtara ? 

okavela min 100k untey H4 EADs and OPTs ni recruit chesukuntaru ga takkuva salaries ki ? throw some light

 

[solman]

asalu ee numbers correct kadu emo ani naa doubt .. ee list lo CTS ledu enduku.. vadu kooda undali kada, vade kada EB1 ekkava abuse chesadhi..

 

 

[JANASENA]

2 minutes ago, lepuraja said:

Min 100K max can be anything. You red bus fellow 

what do mean by anything You red bus fellow  

[JANASENA]

1 minute ago, solman said:

asalu ee numbers correct kadu emo ani naa doubt .. ee list lo CTS ledu enduku.. vadu kooda undali kada, vade kada EB1 ekkava abuse chesadhi..

 

 

THE HINDU lo vachindi baa news. 

[lepuraja]

Just now, JANASENA said:

what do mean by anything You red bus fellow  

Anything means up to 1 Trillion re red bus nasty FL fellaw