[The decision was announced hours after top Indian mandarins--foreign secretary S Jaishankar and commerce secretary Rita Teotia--had urged the US to view the H-1B issue as a trade and services matter, not an immigration one. “If the US's intention is to bring back American companies to the US and attract more foreign investment, it is important that America remains competitive. So, there would actually be (a) growing need for this partnership,“ Jaishankar said. Even as Indian officials said their “forceful pre sentation“ to Congress and the administration over three days “has been met with a degree of understanding“, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services brought the axe down on the expedited processing system which many Indian and American companies use to facilitate the entry , and sometimes rotation, of tens of thousands of skilled professionals for project work in the US.]
http://www.tatkalnews.com/news/124555-US-snubs-India-stalls-priority-H-1B-visas.aspx US snubs India, stalls priority H-1B visas March 05, 2017 06:32 AM COURSTEY Mar 05 2017 : The Times of India (Mumbai) US snubs India, stalls priority H-1B visas Chidanand Rajghatta Washington: The US administration on Friday temporarily suspended the expedited premium processing of H-1B visas as part of its squeeze on what it said was an overloaded guest worker programme.The suspension came even as Delhi pressed, without success, for a fair and rational approach on the issue from a trade and business perspective. By paying an additional $1,225 premium, companies can have an H-1B application processed within 15 days, whereas a standard process takes three to six months. ***The decision was announced hours after top Indian mandarins--foreign secretary S Jaishankar and commerce secretary Rita Teotia--had urged the US to view the H-1B issue as a trade and services matter, not an immigration one. “If the US's intention is to bring back American companies to the US and attract more foreign investment, it is important that America remains competitive. So, there would actually be (a) growing need for this partnership,“ Jaishankar said. Even as Indian officials said their “forceful pre sentation“ to Congress and the administration over three days “has been met with a degree of understanding“, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services brought the axe down on the expedited processing system which many Indian and American companies use to facilitate the entry , and sometimes rotation, of tens of thousands of skilled professionals for project work in the US.*** [Emphasis added.] The suspension of expedited premium processing of H-1B visas, which US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said may last up to six months, applies to H-1B petition requests after April 3, 2017, effectively nixing the guest worker programme for this year. Typically, there are three times as many petitions as the 85,000 H-1B visa limit, and firms use the expedited process to keep the wheels of commerce turning. More than half the applications come from India. But USCIS has long believed there has also been systemic abuse of the programme by unscrupulous body-shopping firms. The temporary suspension, it said, will enable it to “process long-pending petitions.“ Immigration advocates, however, believe this is just the first of many steps by the Trump administration to curtail skilled worker inflow that critics, including the President and some of his aides, believe is leaching jobs and depressing wages. Beyond the visa wrinkles though, Jaishankar expressed a “strong sense of optimism“ that US-India ties continues to be on an upward trajectory as he laid the groundwork for cabinet-level exchanges that will culminate in the visit to Washington DC of PM Narendra Modi a few months down the line. “Overall, our sense was this administration has a positive view of the relationship and of India. We saw a lot of goodwill...lot of interest in taking it forward,“ he said at the end of a three-day visit. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
