Call for US service visas to replace H-1B visas
May 08 2009 by Bryan Palmer
Indian IT workers on H1B visas
As the anti-outsourcing sentiment in the US grows in response to rising unemployment, the Indian IT outsourcing body, Nasscom, is requesting ‘service visas.’
Nascom President, Som Mittal, says he is still confident, stating, “US probably is one of the only countries in the world which does not have what we call a temporary visa or service visa or a work permit. So we will keep working on this and we are quite confident that the Bill (H1, L1 visa legislation) will get converted into comprehensive reforms Bill. Our objective will be not to talk about H1 and L1, but to really get a service visa.”
Kris Lakshmikanth, a recruitment specialist based in Bangalore, says it may be wise to stop referring to US work visas as H-1Bs or L1s as the issue is so politically sensitive at the moment.
He adds, “Nasscom is doing a very commendable job by not naming the kind of visa they want, but by demanding a service visa which is of a similar nature.”
The service visa would allow Indian nationals to work in the US temporarily in order to do a particular job. This is especially important to allow for intra-company transfers and to enable US firms to take on specialists for short periods when they are needed.
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