What is H1B Visa?

• The H1B visa is an employment-based, non-immigrant visa for temporary workers.
• For this visa, an employer must offer a job in the US and apply for your H1B visa petition with the US Immigration Department.

Eligibility:

• The H1B visa is issued for a specialty occupation, requires theoretical and practical application of a body of specialized knowledge and requires the visa holder to have at least a Bachelor’s degree or its equivalent.
• The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services sets a limit on how many H1B visas are issued each year.
• These numbers can change as per regulations of the US government. Historically, the cap is placed at 65,000.
• An H1B holder is eligible to seek permanent residency to USA.

What is the Issue all about?

• The US is reviewing the H-1B visa programme, which allows companies to temporarily employ foreign workers in America in speciality occupations.
• The new proposals, if implemented, could impact the profitability of Indian IT companies as it could lead to a reduction in H1-B visa approvals for regular applicants.
• With the visa issuance norms being tightened by restricting access of entry-level programmers coupled with increasing compliance requirements adding to cost pressures, Indian companies have started to ramp up onshore hiring.
• But increased onshore hiring associated with a higher wage bill along with factors such as pricing pressure on commoditised services and wage inflation will negatively impact their margins going forward.