India to ask for more US work visas
October 20 2009 by Liam Clifford
India seeks to lift limit on overseas workers working for Government funded companies.
India is to ask for the cap on US H-1B visas (skilled work visas) to be increased
to allow more Indians to live and work in the US.
India is set to take part in a
bilateral trade forum with the US later this month in New Delhi. The issue of
establishing a more relaxed approach to providing work visas for Indians is
likely to be high on the agenda.
Several major firms have been prevented
from taking on foreign workers as a result of protectionist measures brought in
by Barack Obama. He prevented firms that had received government funding from
hiring staff from overseas. This led to a fall in the number of jobs available
for skilled Indians in industries like IT and engineering.
An official
speaking about the bilateral trade meeting said that the number of US H-1B visas
available was reduced to 65,000 two years ago. He added that, “this has affected
the functioning of Indian companies in the US, especially ones in the IT
sector.”
The official says that although the 65,000 quota has not been
fully filled this year as a result of the recession, the number of US work visas needed will soar as soon as the economy in the US begins to recover.
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