New Delhi: The Indian government has conveyed its concerns at a ‘very senior level’ in the US administration on the move to curb H-1B visa processing, Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Tuesday.
“I think our concerns at a very senior level has already been conveyed to the government of USA. I would not like to get into the details except that Indian IT companies are giving good value addition to US companies,” Prasad told reporters on the sidelines of ICEGOV conference in response to a question on recent developments.
The US had last week said it will be temporarily suspending premium processing of H-1B visas from April 3, eliminating the option of shorter waiting period for the programme that helps highly skilled foreigners work at American firms.
H-1B visas are widely used by Indian IT majors.
Premium processing costs an additional USD 1,225 and ensures a response from the USCIS within 15 days or the fee is refunded.
Processing of standard H-1B applications takes between 3 and 6 months.
“They are making them more competitive and giving them extraordinary value addition. I am given to understand that they have paid around $20 billion tax revenue in last 5 years. They have created 4,00,000 jobs, not only in America but other parts of the world. Indian IT companies and IT professionals are giving lot of opening to American companies in India,” Prasad said.