US State Department: No Plans to Cap H-1B Work Visas
Lesley Wroughton
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Washington: The Trump administration has no plans to cap H-1B work visas for nations that force foreign companies to store data locally, the state department said on Thursday.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that the US told India it was considering restricting the H-1B visa programmes, under which skilled foreign workers are brought to the US each year, for countries with the data storage requirement.
They were briefed by two senior Indian officials about a cap between 10% and 15% of the total number of H-1B visas issued to Indians.
In response to the Reuters article, a state department spokeswoman said in a statement that “The Trump Administration has no plans to place caps on H-1B work visas for nations that force foreign companies to store data locally"
While an administration’s “Buy American Hire American” executive order calls for a broad review of US worker visa programmes, including the H-1B program, it was not targeted at a specific country, the spokeswoman stated.
Also read: US Tells India it May Cap H-1B Visas to Counter Data Localisation Plans
It is “completely separate from our ongoing discussions with India about the importance of ensuring the free flow of data across borders,” the spokeswoman added.
Earlier on Thursday, India said it was in talks with the US on H-1B visas, but foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar told a news conference: “We have not heard anything officially from the US government” on capping such permits for Indians.
The US secretary of state Mike Pompeo is scheduled to visit New Delhi next week for talks that will include areas of disagreement between the two countries over trade.
There is no country-specific limit on the 85,000 H-1B work visas the US issues every year, and an estimated 70% of them go to Indians.
(Reuters)
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