According to an American government official, this decision will help the millions of Indian tech workers who currently reside and work in the US.
There is exciting news for Indian technology workers living in the US: a domestic pilot program to renew certain H-1B visa categories is about to be launched. An American government official noted that this decision, which is expected to take into effect in December, will benefit the millions of Indian tech workers who now reside and work in the US.
A few months have passed since the White House initially revealed this idea during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s June visit.
The demand for US visas in India is still quite high. The six, eight, and twelve-month wait times are unnecessary and do not reflect our perception of India. In an interview with news agency PTI, Julie Stufft, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services, made the following statement. Our goal is to expedite the appointment-making process for Indian travelers. The domestic visa renewal program, which is heavily focused on India, is one way we are achieving that. We’re testing that out.
The State Department will be granting 20,000 visas to foreign nationals who are presently residing in the nation starting in December and lasting for three months. “We will do 20,000 in the first group,” stated the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services. We will grow as time goes on, with Indian nationals residing in the US making up the great bulk of those.
The main goal of the initiative was further explained by her, saying, “We hope that India would benefit quite a bit from this program because Indians are the largest skilled group of workers in the United States. It will save people from needing to return to India or any other place for a visa appointment in order to renew their visa. This will enable our missions in India to focus on attracting new candidates.
The initiative has been enthusiastically embraced by Indian Americans since it was first unveiled during Modi’s state visit. Leading figure in the Indian-American community and commissioner to the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Ajay Jain Bhutoria, called the State Department’s action “significant.”
“I’m glad that the suggestion I made to the immigration subcommittees on the Commission to stamp H-1B visas in the United States is now being carried out. In the end, this respite will affect more than a million H-1B holders, a notably high proportion of whom are Indian.
Ms. Stufft further clarified that the scheme for renewing visas is only intended for those with work visas. She said that the Department is very enthused about this “huge undertaking” and that more categories of workers who live in the United States would be added to the program by the end of 2024.
