H-1B update: more stringent norms for visa allotment

Taking a blurry call on the much awaited H-1B visa, Trump administration announced the executive order of 'buy America and Hire America' on April 18, 2017. Trump called for policy suggestions and reforms from various state authorities like the Attorney General to ensure that the H1-B visa is awarded only to the most skilled or highest paid beneficiaries.

While the USA's newly introduced regulation of minimum annual wage set as USD 130,000 for skilled engineers is likely to hit the Indian IT firm drastically, the US authorities have further proposed four bills related to H1-B reforms, six concerning outsourcing and three related to immigration. However, the IT industry has long started to decrease its dependency on H1-B visa, as the applications for H1-B starkly decreased to 199,000 in 2017 compared to 236,000 in 2016.

At present, the H1-B visas are allotted on the basis of lottery, with a maximum of 65,000 visas for general category and 20,000 visas for individuals who have completed their master's degree from any accredited institution in the US.