Strict H1B Visa Creates Talent Crisis In US; 60 Deans, CEOs Write To US Govt. For Easing H1B Visa Rules

With such rapid shifts in the norms of H1B visa, the Indians working in the US as well as the companies of Indian origin based in the US are facing a lot of problems. Especially after the onset of Donald Trump as the President of the US, there has been a significant peak drop in the number of H1B visas issued to Indians and other immigrants each year.

Not only is their extension for H1B visa getting rejected, the procedure for changing jobs by H1B visa holders, too is getting one step more arduous.

Not only is their extension for H1B visa getting rejected, the procedure for changing jobs by H1B visa holders, too is getting one step more arduous. With so much commotion going around H1B visa issue, post Trump America, every Indian is almost reconsidering going to the US for job or studies. A large number of technology professionals on H-1B visas in the US are Indians.

In order to maintain market growth and jobs filled with high-skilled technical professionals, President Trump has been urged to reform the H1-B visa process and to do away with country-specific limits.

Open Letter to Trump by Universities and Company CEOs

Canada and other European countries are soon becoming the go-to destination for skilled Indian IT workers and students wanting to pursue higher studies. This has now started to show affect on the market factors of the US. It has been found that the the US is not producing enough people with the skills to fill them.

A group of more than 60 US business school deans and CEOs have written an open letter to Trump and other leaders, asking them to reform the H1-B visa process and to do away with country-specific limits. In the letter, they have mentioned that US doesn’t have enough high-skilled IT talent and the drop in student admissions over the past three years is acting as a deterrent to get qualified immigrants into the US.

The letter, spearheaded by the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC) said the US does not have the capacity to train enough people with the required high-tech skills, and without a change in approach, this would hinder economic growth.

The letter, in fact, was published in the Wall Street Journal recently. The GMAC also published a white paper, ‘Early Warning Signals Winners and Losers in the Global Race for Talent’ highlighting the imbalance between applicants for the H-1B visa and the available visas.

The letter has suggested removing country caps and reforming the H-1B visa programme, which would encourage immigration to regions within the US. Deans from the business schools of Stanford, Duke, Yale and Columbia, as well as CEOs of companies such as Barings and Ingersoll Rand are signatories to the letter.

A Severe Drop in the No. Of Issued H1B Visas

Until 2004, the cap of H1B visa was 195,000. This number has now been limited to an adjusted cap of 85,000. Issued on a first come, first-served basis, every year the demand for H-1B visas outweighs the supply.

In 2019, 190,098 H-1B petitions were filed and only 85k visas were capped. The white paper also said that the number of Indians sending their GMAT scores fell to 45% in 2018 from 57% in testing year 2014.

 In 2019, the US saw a 13.7% decline in international business school applications, even as Canada and Europe recorded an increase. The growth pace in the number of Indian students studying in US has slowed, at 5.4% in 2018 over 12.3% the previous year.