US slaps India with 15% cap on H-1B visas |
Amid the ongoing row over tariffs, the United States of America is considering caps on the highly demanded H-1B work visas for countries that force foreign companies to store data locally, widening the two countries` trade row. The plan to limit the H-1B visa programme, under which skilled foreign workers are brought to the US each year, comes days ahead of US secretary of state Mike Pompeo`s visit to the country. India, which has irked the US government with stringent new rules on data storage, is the largest recipient of these temporary visas, most of them to workers at big Indian IT firms. There is no current country-specific limit on the 85,000 H-1B work visas granted each year by the US and about 70% go to Indians. The warning comes as trade tension between the US and India have resulted in tit-for-tat tariff actions recently. The Ministry of External Affairs is analysing the situation and has sought an "urgent response" from officials on how such a US move could affect India, said one of the two government officials.
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