- Siddaramaiah is trying to tap into the sentiments of techies living in his state by voicing his opinion on the work permits for spouses of H-1B visa holders in the US
- The Karnataka CM claims that the Donald Trump administration's move could affect a lot of IT professionals from Karnataka
- He also tagged external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and asked why the spouses of US expatriates are allowed to work in India
In the run-up to the May 12 Karnataka assembly elections, chief minister Siddaramaiah is trying to tap into the sentiments of techies living in his state by voicing his opinion on the work permits for spouses of H-1B visa holders in the United States.
The Karnataka CM took to Twitter to say that the Donald Trump administration's move could affect a lot of IT professionals from Karnataka. The Trump admin may soon restrict spouses of H-1B visa holders from working in the US. He also tagged external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and asked why the spouses of US expatriates are allowed to work in India.
Denying spouses of H1B visa holders in the US the permission to work is not fair. Techies from Karnataka are affected by this. Bengaluru is home to a large no.of US expatriates. Should their spouses have a free ride here? @SushmaSwaraj https://t.co/Hxvv42lPri via @timesofindia
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) April 25, 2018
I hope the MEA is taking note of this.
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) April 26, 2018
Madam @SushmaSwaraj it is important that we take this matter up strongly with US admin & demand reciprocity. https://t.co/JUrYWhE3Lq
The Information Technology (IT) boom in the state capital, Bengaluru, has attracted millions of people from across the country in the last 25 years to work in the tech city and Trump-admin-like steps would affect them in a major way.
There are reportedly 53 lakh first-time voters in the state for the upcoming assembly elections, Times of India reported. The youth of Bengaluru, a city which is home to millions of IT professionals, is an important milestone to achieve for a party to win the assembly elections.
The Karnataka assembly elections will be held May 12 in a single phase in all the 224 constituencies. The counting is scheduled for May 15.
US plans to revoke the H-4 visa
The Trump administration plans to revoke the policy that allows the spouses of H-1B visa holders to obtain employment authorization document. Without the policy, the spouses of the employees on H-1B visa would unable to work legally in the States.
The policy, which came into effect during the Obama administration, may be revoked for Trump's objectives of "Buy American, Hire American." The spouses of the H-1B visa holders were earlier allowed to work in the United States under the H-4 visa that was issued during the Obama administration.
However, the current US President Donald Trump now plans to withdraw the H-4 visa permit, thus affecting a large number of Indian spouses working in the States. There are reportedly 100,000 Indian-American H-4 visa holders who are a beneficiary of this provision, News 18 reported.
