INDIANS CHEERS UP: TRUMP PROMISES CHANGES H-1B VISA REGIME
After a tweet from US President Donald Trump, a wave of cheerfulness went through scores of Indian families in India as well as the US. US President Donald Trump tweeted that major changes are coming to the H-1B visa programme, that will bring both “simplicity and certainty” and offer a potential path to citizenship to those holding it. He tweeted, “We want to encourage talented and highly skilled people to pursue career options in the US.” A number of families whose sons and daughters are there, virtually burst into joy with such a development. The changes are merit linked as he had indicated earlier also. H-1B visa-holders are often sponsored by their employers for permanent residency (better known as Green Card), which is a step away from citizenship. There is currently a huge backlog in the system, mostly impacting Indian applicants, and efforts are underway to address. Indians are the single largest beneficiaries of the H-1B program for highly skilled foreign professionals, accounting for more than 70% of the 85,000 visas granted annually — 65,000 to those hired from abroad and 20,000 from among foreigners enrolled in higher studies in US universities and colleges.
