TRUMP CUTS
by Arindam Mukherjee
CONTINUING the campaign against the H1B visa scheme in the US , a fresh bill has surfaced in the US parliament which has the potential of both benefiting
and harming Indian IT companies , one of the largest beneficiaries of the H1B visa scheme for sending skilled workers to the US .
The new Bill — Immigration Innovation ( I-squared ) Act of 2018 — was proposed by Republican Senators Orrin Hatch and Jeff Flake recently and has the backing of several Silicon Valley bigwigs including Microsoft and Facebook .
What should be sweet music to Indian IT companies in all this is that this bill does not seek cutting legal immigration but actually proposes to increase it . The bill proposes to increase the number of H1B visas issued by the US government from the present 65,000 a year to 85,000 a year . This bill comes at a time when there is heightened demand and activity in the US to curtail immigration and put tighter curbs on the H1B visa scheme .
Only recently , there was a proposal to not extend the H-1B visa of those waiting for permanent residency or a Green Card , which , if cleared , is expected to aff ect half-a-million Indians working in the US . This proposed policy means that if visas are not extended at all , or extended for just one year , several H1B visa holders might have to return to India . According to rough estimates , between 5,00,000 and 7,50,000 people might be affected by the move which could affect Indian companies and their numbers severely .
Before that , another legislation — the Protect and Grow American Jobs Act , HR 170 — introduced by Republican US representative Darrell Issa — was passed by voice vote in the House Judiciary Committee of the US Congress . The bill proposed to raise the minimum salary of H1B visa holders from $ 60,000 to $ 90,000 as well as to put a check on the work visas used by a slew of Indian companies who send their workers to the US .
This was preceded by another bill floated in the US Congress to control imm igration , particularly through H1B visas . In September , senators Tom Cotton and David Perdue proposed the Ref o r- ming American Immigration for Strong Employment ( RAISE ) Act , which aimed to reduce the number of legal migrants
Yet Another Check-in Plan
The ‘ I-squared ’ Bill is the latest in a series of proposals to restrict the scope of the H1B visa
( Green Card holders ) allowed in the US by 40 per cent in the first year and by 50 per cent in over a decade .
According to senator Orrin Hatch , the ‘ I-Squared ’ Bill would contain a streamlined Green Card process for high-skilled workers and also impose strict penalties for companies that use H1B workers to displace American employees . It will also create a better procedure for H1B workers who wish to stay in the US long-term to change jobs so that employers cannot lock them in at below-market wages .
Experts feel the Bill is another step by the Trump administration ’ s stated resolve to move away from the existing H1B visa based immigration system to a merit-based immigration system which will attract only the best and brightest talent from across the world . It is well known that Trump wants to bring about merit-based immigration reforms and move away from the current process of extended family chain migration .
The matter of concern for Indian IT companies is that the Bill proposes to prevent the use of the H1B visa system by companies to outsource jobs at the cost of American jobs . Accordingly , it proposes to increase visa fees and enable the US government to raise around $ 1 billion from increased visa fees to fund science and technology education .
Another proposal of the Bill is also expected to hit the existing practice in Indian IT companies . The bill proposes to impose stiff penalties on companies that do not deploy professionals with H1B visas within three months . Currently , many Indian companies have the practice of obtaining H1B visas for their workers but keeping them on a stand-by in India till a project demands more people . This will have to stop if the bill is passed .
50 OUTLOOK 26 February 2018