NEW DELHI: The concerns of Indian information technology firms in the wake of the H-1B visa suspension by the US has been raised at a ‘very senior level’ in the US administration, Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Tuesday.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) had temporarily suspended premium processing for all H-1B petitions, a suspension which may last up to six months, beginning April 3, 2017.
“I think our concerns at a very senior level has already been conveyed to the government of USA. I would not like to get into the details except that Indian IT companies are giving good value addition to US companies,” he said.
“Indian IT companies are servicing more than 75 per cent of Fortune 500 companies by making them more competitive and giving them extraordinary value addition. I am given to believe that they have paid more than $20 billion in tax revenue in the last 5 years and have created more than 4,00,000 jobs, not only in America but in various parts of the world,” he said.
The USCIS issues around 85,000 H1-B visas every year and Indian technology companies are the beneficiaries. Processing of premium visas cost an additional $1,225 and ensures a response from the USCIS within 15 days or the fee is refunded. The processing of standard H-1B applications takes between 3 and 6 months.
“Indian IT companies and IT professionals are giving a lot of openings to American companies in India in terms of research, high end quality products and patent creation.
The whole global IT movement is based on sharing, communality and reciprocity,” pointed out Prasad. India’s apex IT industry lobby NASSCOM, had earlier said that the US just can’t afford to ignore India as it lacked the required skills. Surprisingly, the suspension came just after a NASSCOM delegation concluded its trip to the US where they met a number of US lawmakers to lobby against the crackdown.