US President Barrack Obama has declared that the US Government will bring huge reforms in the L-1B visa norms, which will benefit companies all over world; especially Indian IT firms.
During SelectUSA Investment Summit being held at Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, National Harbor where 2500+ who-is-who of global business leaders from 70 countries and 1300 companies were present, US President said, “So the bottom line is this: America is proudly open for business, and we want to make it as simple and as attractive for you to set up shop here as is possible.”
He added, “My administration is going to reform the L-1B visa category, which allows corporations to temporarily move workers from a foreign office to a US office in a faster, simpler way.”
About L-1B Visa
L-1B is a non-immigrant visa issued by US government which allows companies to transfer employees certain with specific skill sets. The company should be registered in India (or any other country) as well as in USA. Using L-1B visa, a company can transfer employees’ upto 5 years duration.
In the past, Indian IT companies have faced huge number of rejections in obtaining L-1 visa for working in the USA. During 2012-14, total of 25,296 Indians applied for L-1B visa, out of which 14,104 faced rejection which is 56%, highest in the world. Compared to India, L-1B visa applicants from China and Mexico received rejection rate of 22% and 21%
Due to this, several of employees who reached USA faced harassment from the US Government and it deterred some of the biggest IT companies such as Infosys and TCS to expand further in US.
With easing of rules, it is now expected that more IT companies will open offices in USA, and transfer Indian employees for better business operations.
In the year 2013, US Govt. received 1546 applications for Green Card from L1 visa holders, and average salary of such an applicant was $106,397. Top three IT companies which apply for H1B and L1 visas are: Infosys, TCS and Wipro.
About SelectUSA Event
SelectUSA Investment Summit was started in 2011 to help investors connect with US businessmen and to promote more trade and commerce opportunities in the country. In the last 4 years, this single event has generated more than $20 billion of investments in the USA. Some of the dignitaries which are present in this event: Secretary of State John Kerry, Google Inc. Chairman Eric Schmidt, BMW North America Chief Executive Officer Ludwig Willisch and Michelin North America Inc. President Pete Selleck, Iconic investor Warren Buffet.
The two day event will hold talks and meetings on several issues such as cyber security, trade, immigration, tax policy and infrastructure.
USA Government wants more companies to set up base in their country, which will lead to more jobs and more commerce. Although USA added 30 lakh new jobs in 2014, as unemployment rate dropped 5.5% in the last 12 months, the country is still reeling from $21 trillion of debt, which can only be removed by greater economic push and more income.
so called Indian IT giants (TCS, WIPRO, Infosys and US based Indian’s operated Cognizant) are actually blood sucker leeches. they do all the hack to exploit US visa system and employees on visa (H1, L1 and even B1). they train their employees to falsify information at consulates and port of entry. they themselves falsify information submitted to USCIS when petitioning visa applications. they even send people to work on B1 visa where any labor/work is unauthorized. they use these visas as carrots to captivate their employees as bonded labor in both India and USA. They also help USA companies to replace qualified Citizen employees unethically. I can not understand why these companies are not still banned for applying USA visas or conduct business in USA.
Senator Session and Grassley are investigating visa frauds done by these companies. I hope their colleagues in Senate and House help them curb this visa frauds done by outsourcing companies.
Fact: An Offshore Outsourcing company Vice President, InfoSys, is quoted in court documents as deliberately excluding fully qualified local IT engineers, in all hiring within the United States.
Fact: Indian IT companies stuff in an excess number of H-1b visa requests each year. Because they know that in resulting lottery, if generic IT worker A or B don’t make it in, generic it worker C will do just fine. Because they are all just Trainees anyway.
Fact: Indian IT have a huge supply of workers with only minimal qualifications to receive an H-1b visa.
Fact: Indian IT companies stuff in an excess number of requests, thereby denying reliable access to the H-1b system by companies. You know the ones that actually interview both Americans and Foreign workers for U.S. IT jobs. And by doing this, the Offshore Outsourcing companies receive a Federal Government supplied monopoly on cheap, indentured STEM labor in the United States.
Fact: Highly qualified, more experienced IT workers at Southern California Edison were never interviewed by Tata or InfoSys in order to resume their careers with those companies.
Fact: The workers brought in by InfoSys and Tata are making about half as much as the more highly qualified, higher skilled workers they are replacing.
Fact: Southern California Edison is just the tip, of the tip, of the iceberg in terms the numbers of companies that have replaced highly skilled IT and STEM workers with people making half as much on an H-1b visa and that were trained by the people that they replaced.
Fact: Try and do this same thing in any Unionized Industry department, and that company will be shut down. Engineers are an easy target, because they are not unionized.
Fact: The typical company doing an H-1b replacement, Pfizer, Harley… did it at a time when they were enjoying very stable profits. This is because the CEO has run out of ideas, and needs a way to continue to boost profits. Offshore Outsourcing companies provide cheap worker replacements without any work on the part of the companies upper management. Clearly if a company is doing an H-1b replacement, it is because the dead wood is at the top of the company.
Everything Jay Palmer said, under oath in Senate testimony, is bolstered by the Publicly available facts.
InfoSys, Tata, and Southern California Edison were all invited to come to Congress and testify. They didn’t come. And we have to suspect, because the facts in this situation are so aweful, that having to speak the truth would be too hard to bear for their business model.