V Muraleedharaan, Minister of State for External Affairs, in a written reply in Rajya Sabha, said, “India closely consulted all the stakeholders and engaged with US Administration and Congress on issues related to the movement of Indian professionals including those pertaining to the H1B visa programme.”
The H-1B visa application process has become more complex for employers worldwide, including for Indian IT companies, due to certain recent administrative changes in the H-1B programme which have increased documentation requirements on the petitioners. Due to these changes, there was a decrease in the visas issued to Indians last fiscal year. The higher level of scrutiny has impacted the processing of H-1B petitions for Indian nationals.
The Minisrty of External Affairs has replied that in its engagement with the US administration it has emphasized on maintaining a ‘mutually beneficial partnership’ by working on the H-1B visa issual process.
