US to start issuing H-1B visas for Indian professionals in September
The United States (US) government has agreed to start issuing H-1B visas for Indian professionals in September. Confirming this, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said by the end of the year, it might become possible to resume the issuance of all categories of US visas.
The H-1B visa allows US employers to hire foreign workers for specialty jobs with Indians among the major beneficiaries. This is contingent on a continuous drop in the virus level and increasing pace of Covid vaccination in India. The UK could go the same way, he said at an All India Management Association’s (AIMA) programme.
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Student visas are the highest priority for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) right now. The US and many western European countries are currently issuing visas to Indian students, and the MEA is trying to expedite those. The MEA is also talking to the Australian mission here to prevent delays in visa issuance to Indian students.
The H-1B programme applies to employers seeking to hire non-immigrants as workers in specialty occupations or as fashion models of distinguished merit and ability. A specialty occupation is one that requires the application of a body of highly specialised knowledge and the attainment of at least a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent.
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The intent of the H-1B provisions is to help employers, who cannot otherwise obtain needed business skills and abilities from the US workforce by authorising the temporary employment of qualified individuals who are not otherwise authorised to work in the
United States.
-PTC News
