Bush promises more H1B visas to India Comments: This message did not originate from the

Friday, March 03, 2006

NEW DELHI: In a news that could bring cheers to Indians who want to work in the U.S., U.S. President George W Bush Thursday hinted that U.S. authorities could issue a large number of non-immigrant (H-1B) visas.

Though the final decision on the increase in the annual cap for H-1B visas rests with the U.S. Congress, Bush has clearly indicated that he will not veto a proposal for raising the cap. Interestingly, even as Bush made this statement at the joint press conference in New Delhi, lawmakers in Washington were preparing to debate Senator Arlen Specter?s Bill.

The Specter Bill proposes to increase the number of H-1B visas available to 1,15,000 annually from 65,000. The Bill also proposes to exempt foreign nationals who have earned advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering or mathematics from the H-1B cap.

Bush said, ?I think there need to be more student exchanges between our countries. I think we ought to expand H-1B visas for Indian scientists and engineers and physicists and people in our country.?

Though Bush has been vocal on the need for increasing H-1B visas during his State of the Union address and in public appearances as well ? the focus on the U.S. requirement for Indian scientists, physicists and engineers could be an outcome of the diplomatic flap, following the denial of visas to three Indian scientists.

On an average, nearly 28 percent of H-1B visas are issued to Indians. Bush?s statement could lead to re-examination of the visa-screening procedures, which, the U.S. National Science Foundation has maintained, makes the U.S. unattractive for foreign scientists. According to some experts, it could even lead to exemptions for a larger category of send workers, especially in the science and engineering fields.