After the Trump’s controversial visa reforms many countries are concerned about themselves, so is India. Perhaps this is the reason that soon a group from Indian IT sector are going to meet US lawmakers and officials from US President Donald Trump’s administration.

It is rumored to happen latter in this month. If visa reforms have any changes that can damage the growth or development of India the country might suffer a loss of $150 billion.

According to R. Chandrashekhar, head of Indian IT industry body Nasscom,

“Details of the visit were still being finalized, but chief executives from some of India’s big IT companies would be part of a delegation visiting Washington in the week of Feb 20.”

According to the news India’s software services industry is really worried about the bill that is featuring a reform, according to which salary paid to H-1B visa holders will be increased not a bit but to a huge cost. The bill was introduced in US Congress.

H-1B visas are usually used by Indian IT companies to fly engineers to US. US is one of the biggest market for Indians. Whereas some companies in US think that Indian companies are misusing the program and are trying to replace US jobs.

According to Nasscom, Zie Lofgren proposed a bill that aimed to target some of the members of Indian IT industry that was totally unfair. Zoe is a Democrat of California. Nasscom also stated that it will not solve a US labor shortage in the tech sector.

Chandrashekhar said,

“The visit would also seek to emphasize the economic partnership that is being built between the two countries.”

India’s IT firms, led by Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Wipro, have seen growth slow in 2016, as customers delayed spending ahead of the US presidential election.

A senior executive at L&T Technology Services, who want to his name to remain behind the veils told,

“Immigration concerns were a risk item, always there, but they are more pronounced now.”

If news is to be believed most probably Trump may issue the HB-1 reforms this week.

Indian consultant working for Infosys in the US said,

“Many of his colleagues were “dejected,” while another engineer working for Cisco in North Carolina said management had called in an immigration attorney to reassure employees.”

According to India’s Ministry of External Affairs, “No executive order has been signed so far,” Vikas Swarup, a spokesman for the ministry told reporters on Thursday. “Such bills have been introduced in the past too and such bills have to go through the full Congressional process. So let’s not prejudge the outcome.”

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Some are calling it ‘constitutional crisis’ the others name it ‘a week of turmoil in United States’. It’s just one week from the day president took oath officially. The Trump has introduced several immigration reforms that are giving rise to controversies. The reforms aim to ban on asylum seekers from seven Muslim countries, provoking nationwide protests.

Adding here, we don’t need to remind anyone that a whole four year period of Trump’s presidency is still left. It is just the beginning of his rule. So, we can consider his reforms just a trailer of the actual movie that will release part by part in the upcoming tenure.

Believe when I say that his administration is all set to make another controversial decision. The reforms that are been announced include reforming the H-1B high-skilled Visas.

According to the stats the H-1B visa program has a cap of 85,000 visas annually. The program is working for several years now and according to subscription charts, the program is over-subscribed.

People have been trying to ask for reform but certainly not like ones Trump administration is planning to make.

The draft if the order is ready and a passage from the “Immigration Executive Order” reads,

“Our country’s immigration policies should be designed and implemented to serve, first and foremost, the U.S. national interest. Visa programs for foreign workers … should be administered in a manner that protects the civil rights of American workers and current lawful residents, and that prioritizes the protection of American workers — our forgotten working people — and the jobs they hold.”

H-1B high-skilled Visas reforms will mainly affect tech giants like Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Silicon Valley. Till now there is no news about any sort of changes in the program but if we look at what Trump’s idea of ‘America first’ is, surely the reforms will affect growth and success of the companies and this can cause serious dispute among the companies and government.

It is not a surprise. Even before Trump took the oath it was expected that he would make certain changes that won’t be liked by many. Still the news of such reforms has taken the internet by storm. From the trolls to serious discussions everyone has something or the other to say about his reforms.

Being Pakistanis we should take the H-1B high-skilled Visas reforms seriously. It cautions towards the high chances of Pakistan to be banned along other countries.

About H-1B Program

H-1B is a non-immigrant visa in the United States. The program aims to employ foreigners temporarily in U.S., Technology companies are the ones that use the program most to bring startups to the country. Startups use the program too. This way they find talent from other countries and call them to serve in their firms. This not only benefits the employers but employees too.

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