Trump plans a 15% cap on H-1B visas — and Indians will be hurt the most

• The US government is mulling nearly 10%-15% cap on H1-B visas for selective nations — including India.
  
• The move is targeted on nations that restrain from global data storage norms seeking foreign companies to store data locally.
  
• Of the 85,000 H1-B visas that are granted every year, nearly 70% go to the Indians.
  
• This has hit the IT sector employees the most with nearly 40% US visa rejections.
  

In bad news for Indians, the United States of America(USA) is reportedly considering nearly 10%-15% cap on H1-B visas for selective nations — including India.

Amid the rising tensions over trade and tariffs, the government is considering the move on nations that restrain from global data storage norms seeking foreign companies to store data locally, according to a Reuters report.

The US government is considering the move on nations that restrain from global data storage norms seeking foreign companies to store data locally, according to a Reuters report.

The H1-B visas are issued to the skilled Indians planning to work in the US, every year.

"The proposal is that any country that does data localisation, then it (H-1B visas) would be limited to about 15% of the quota. It's being discussed internally in the US government," Reuters reported citing sources.

This comes just ahead of Mike Pompeo’s India visit. In a recent US-India Business Council event, he told that the US government will focus on consumer privacy, thereby allowing free flow of data across borders.

The US, however, has not put a limit on visa grants to a specific country, TOI reported. Of the 85,000 H1-B visas that are granted every year, nearly 70% go to the Indians.

The Trump government has been aggressively cracking down on the immigration rules. Recently, it directed the visa applicants to share their social media handles that they have used in the last five years. This will enable the government to have access to applicants’ email address, phone number and locations among others.

This has hit the Indian IT sector employees the most with nearly 40% US visa rejections. According to the US think-tank Centre for Immigration Studies, top IT firms Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Cognizant and Infosys faced the most rejections in extension of H1-B work visas.

Given that, "The next phase will be that Indian IT firms will go acquire more companies in the US. And, those companies will have back-end engineering in India,” Mohandas Pai, the former CEO of Infosys and a startup investor told.

See also:
Rise in US H-1B visa rejection may force Indian tech companies to look at M&A

US visa seekers will now have to submit their social media handles

New H1-B rules bring more rejections on work visa renewals