H1-B visa is a visa in the US that allows US employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in ‘specialty’ occupations.
It is granted for 3 years, extendable to 6 years, after which the applicant needs to reapply.
Specialty occupations, as defined in H1-B visa, are those where the applicant should have specialised knowledge and a bachelor’s degree or the equivalent in work experience.
Because of this definition of ‘specialty’, computer/IT fit the bill perfectly and out of the 85,000?The current annual statutory cap is 65,000 visas, with 20,000 additional visas for foreign professionals who graduate with a master’s degree or doctorate from a U.S. institution of higher learning. immigrants that H1-B allows each year, mostly are in computer/IT field.
Now computer/IT have been quite popular (800,000+ students enrolled in 2019 in computer related undergraduate programs) in India since the establishment of Software Technology Parks of India (STPI)??STPI is an autonomous body that incentivises SMEs and startups to export software.in 1991.
Because of IT-related skill sets of the India-born, more than 75% of H1-B visas each year end-up going to India-born workers.
US currently has an Indian-American population of about 3 million and 7,50,000 out of these are H1-B holders + family, so stakes for Indians are pretty high.
From the US standpoint, H1-B visa has mostly been linked to ‘local unemployment in favour of ‘cheap labour’ from overseas’, an argument which triggers a debate every now & then.
Another reason why it is so much in the news, especially under Trump administration, is that H1-B visa is one of the very few visas that are duel intent i.e. it allows H1-B holder legally to apply for permanent resident status, while being a temporary resident.
When you apply for a temporary US visa and have no intention to stay in the US permanently, you are said to have non-immigrant intent and during the visa application process you have to convince the consular officer of this intent.
If you are not able to convince the officer, you are said to have an immigrant intent i.e. you are saying you will go back to your country but you wouldn’t and therefore your visa application would most likely be rejected.
But with H1-B visa, you can have duel intent (“I will go back when my term is up but I will try to qualify for lawful permanent residence”).
And a good number of H1-B holders succeed in getting their employers to sponsor them for permanent residence (green card).
But Trump administration has never been happy about this duel intent for H1-B, thus ensuring its recurrence in the news through statements.
H1-B is also believed to have been subjected to carrot-stick abuse by employers where “perform well and I will sponsor you” is the carrot and “if we are not happy, we will sack you and you will have to be deported” is the stick.
