The US Embassy in New Delhi sought to allay concerns among visa seekers regarding the proposed tweaking of visa rules under Donald Trump's regime. Charge d' affairs MaryKay Carlson said that H1-B programme was under review.
“We are waiting to see what those changes will be. But this is a process that will take some time. The proposals will require a Congressional review. There are many stakeholders involved,'' She said.
“The Congress would go into recess from July 31 to September 1, and since it didn't seem likely that the review would happen before the recess, the matter would only be taken up in the fall. So any proposed changes will take several months to be implemented, till then, the situation remains unchanged,” said Carlson. She was speaking at the Student Visa Day held by the embassy.
The proposal to change H1-B visa rules had hit Indians hard, because this is the most lucrative route Indians use to get a foothold into the US. Several Indian software firms, which have outsourcing units for American companies in the US, use this programme to hire software experts at lower wages than have to be given to American employees. The lower wages, which still begin much higher than Indian wages, made the programme lucrative, and it was a win-win situation for America and India. A section of America, however, feels their jobs are being taken away by Indians on H1-B visa programmes.
Even those who go to America to study under student visas are apprehensive, since the norm is usually to acquire an H1-B visa to work in the US after completing studies, and pay off the education loan.
Consul general George Hogeman also sought to downplay the proposed screening of social media activity of visa aspirants, saying that this screening would take place at the time of the visa interview, and would be at the discretion of the official conducting the interview.
“It will apply to a very small number of students. We issue 13 million visas a year.'' The embassy defended the decision to conduct this scrutiny, saying that security was the number one priority when adjudicating any visa, and it was their obligation to ensure that no one who could be a threat to the US is allowed to enter the country.
The embassy also said that the student season was “going very well”. According to the embassy, the number of Indians currently on student visas in the US has increased from a lakh two years ago to 1.6 lakh at present, and this year's season was only beginning. One out of every sixth student in higher education in the US is an Indian, said the embassy.
