Visa: India in touch with US, Australia

New Delhi, April 20

India is in touch with the US administration over the changes being made to the H1B visa norms and with Australia that has been planning to replace its skilled worker programme with another one.

There have been heightened concerns in India over the Trump administration’s plans to bring about changes in the H1B visa regime that will affect thousands of Indians. Also, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announcing the scrapping of a visa programme, popular with Indians, just days after his India visit has raised concerns over the government’s role.

Official spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs Gopal Baglay said India was in touch with the US and Australian governments as regards the changes being made in respective visa categories. “The government is in touch with the governments of the United States and Australia on these matters and is also making assessment of the impact of the recent changes, in consultation with all stakeholders,” he said.

“Insofar as H1-B visas are concerned, the cap has remained at 65,000 since December 2004 when the H1-B Visa Reform Act of 2004 was enacted by the US Congress,” he said.

With reference to Australia replacing its popular 457 work visa programme with another one, he said senior Australian officials had conveyed to India that “the impact of the changes will be negligible on Indian workers, most of whom fall in high-skill category”. — TNS