New H-1B Rules Dampen Indian Techies' Dream Of US

Hit hard by rejection rates, H-1B visa applicants from India might have a tougher time this year as the Trump administration has changed rules for application and processing of the non-immigrant visa. As the new rules will not only increase the time taken to process a visa but will also increase the cost.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will close the initial registration for the H-1B visa on March 20, while applications will start from April 1.

New York-based immigration law firm Davies & Associates said the new rules will delay visa processing as the process that used to run from the early week of March to the second week of April will now extend from early March to at least the end of July.

Also, the US government has capped H-1B visas to 85,000 every year, out of which around 70% goes to Indians. Techies dominate the list.

“Under the Trump administration, Indian IT companies have seen rejection rates of 24% in 2019 and with the changing process, the Indian IT firms will be more careful while filling their applications, and also concerned that the process might favor US technology companies over them," Mark Davies, Global Chairman, Davies & Associates, LLC, said.

USCIS data shows how the H-1B visa rejection rate for Indian IT companies like Infosys and Wipro is around 50% while for big American companies like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, the rate varies between 2-8%.