The Donald Trump-led US administration has said that it values the investments by Indian firms immensely and wants to build strong economic ties between the two countries. This statement by the US comes days after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who visited Washington DC last week, discussed the issue of restrictions on the H-1B visa with his American counterpart Steven Mnuchin.
"We want to see US-India business-to-business ties remain strong... We greatly value Indian companies' continued investment in the US economy, which also, of course, supports thousands of US jobs. With respect to any new requirements on visas, I'd have to check and see if that's been updated," acting spokesman of the State Department Mark Toner told reporters at his daily news conference on Monday.
Toner added that the present US administration was looking at ways to strengthen processes like visa interview and admission procedures in new ways, the Press Trust of India reported. While responding to questions about the visa review process and its effect on Indian IT companies, Toner said that it was "important to remember that this is always a part of how our consular bureau works and our consular officers work overseas, and our embassies and missions work overseas, and that is we're always reviewing the processes that are in place to issue these visas and finding ways to strengthen them, because we want to ensure the security of the American people."
Jaitley, during his visit to the US, had raised the H-1B visa issue with Mnuchin, as India fears that the restrictions would impact Indian IT professionals who wish to move to the US. Jaitley also highlighted the contribution of Indian IT professionals and companies in the economic development of the US.
The talks came after President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week to overhaul the current H1-B visa system, to end the purported visa 'misuse' by many employers who replace American workers with lower-paid foreigners. The move seeks to ensure that the H-1B visas are given to the "most- skilled or highest paid" petitioners. The administration also proposes to replace the present lottery system with a merit-based approach when it comes to issuing the H-1B work visas. This move could have an effect on India's $150 billion IT industry.
