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| No
hike in H-1B visas this year |
| The
Times of India, Hyderabad (Sunday,
October 15, 2006) |
Legislation Expected Only Next Year, Say American
Experts
Professionals awaiting an increase in the quota of
H-1B visas to go the US will probably have a wait
for another year, say American immigration experts.
There is a proposal pending in the US congress to
increase the annual cap for H-1B visas from the present
65,000 per year issued by the US consulates the world
over. "With elections (Nov. 7) on the anvil in
the US, there seems to be a fairly low chance of this
legislation being brought in this year. It could be
expected only next year or so. In the run up to the
polls, illegal immigration is a major issue,"
US-based immigration attorney Thomas Joy at the session
'How to avoid Costly Mistakes and Receive More Approvals'
for Indian corporates on work visas and green cards
here on Saturday.
Indians get 40 percent of H-1B visas and for this
reason there is a strong industry lobby to have such
a legislation to be passed, Joy added.
This year quota opened on April 1 and ran out by May
26. H-1B visas would be issued only in October 2007.
But there seems to be some hope for those who need
a visa. Some of the alternatives suggested at the
session were consideration of an L-1, J-1, H-2B, H-3,
B-1 or O-1 visa if feasible by the respective company.
"Small to medium-sized companies feel that they
cannot apply for L-1 visas, which is untrue. The advantage
here is that it does not have any specific cap. The
only criteria being that the company must have an
office in the US" said Venkat Ramineni, founder,
VisaPro Immigration Services, who organised the session
for human resource (HR) professionals of corporates
in the city. In case the company does not have an
office in the US, then the professionals should opt
for a B-1 visa valid for a year, suggested Ramineni.
A B-1 visa could be used in an Indian is required
in the US for any work that can be categorised as
a business activity like project discussion and analysis.
Another issue of concern is the regulation which does
not allow the spouses of H-1 visa holders to work.
A proposal to change this rule is also pending with
the US government and is likely to change only next
year, said Joy.
This session was attended by around 35 HR professionals
of various corporates mainly from IT. The queries
ranged from procedural formalities of visas, green
cards, change from one visa status to another to strategies
on how to prevent rejections at visa interviews.
The American attorney gave a presentation on the "misconceptions"
about visa processing and also conducted a mock visa
interview to discuss the dos and dont's. |
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