The Hindu Business Line : It's 1 in 3: India score in L visas

INDIA cornered 32.4 per cent of the total 1,22,981 intra-company transfer visas (L visas) issued by the US in the financial year ended September 2005, followed by Great Britain and Japan.

"The country sending the most intra-company transfers in FY2005 was India. Almost a third (39,849 or 32.4 per cent) of the 1,22,981 L visas were issued to people from India in FY2005," according to a recent report by Congressional Research Service on `Immigration Policy for Intracompany Transfers: Issues and Legislation'.

Great Britain, including Northern Ireland, and Japan trailed with 12,869 (10.5 per cent) and 11,998 (9.8 per cent) respectively, of all L visas issued. Other countries that figured in the Top 10 list were Germany, Mexico, France, Brazil, South Korea, Australia and China. These 10 countries together comprised 74.9 per cent of all L visas issued in 2005.

It is pertinent to mention here that Canadians coming as intra-company transfers are not required to have L visas to enter the US.

More visas issued: The report further said that the number of L visas increased by 363.5 per cent over the last 25 years. The US Department of State issued a mere 26,535 L visas in 1980. L visa issuances began increasing in the mid-1990s and peaked at 1,22,981 in 2005.

Typically, over half of the L visas issued in a given year are categorised as L-1 visas and are granted to an individual qualifying as an intra-company transfer, while the remainder are immediate family coming on L-2 visas. Of the 1,22,981 L visas issued in 2005, 65,458 were L-1 visas for the qualifying (principal) non-immigrant.

Growth pattern: As per the statistical reports of the Department of Homeland Security Office of Immigration Statistics, the data on the number of L non-immigrants who enter the US indicated a growth pattern steeper than the number of visas issued by the State Department. A comparison of the admission data with the visa issuance data revealed that not only have the number of L visa holders increased, but also these L visa holders travel abroad more frequently now than a decade ago.

"The admission of L non-immigrants grew six-fold over the past 24 years, from 65,044 in 1981 to 1,02,555 in 1990 to 4,56,583 in 2004. When the analysis is limited to L-1 visa holders, the number of admissions has grown from 63,180 in 1990 to 3,14,484 in 2004, an increase of almost 400 per cent in 14 years. These admissions data, however, include multiple entries by the same person over the course of a fiscal year," the report said, analysing the trends.

Multiple-entry: Given the purpose of their visas, L non-immigrants may travel back and forth from the US more than once a year for business.

When contacted, the Nasscom Vice-President, Mr Sunil Mehta, pointed out that the L visa figures for India included not only Indian IT companies, but also MNCs that had set up centres in India.

"Also, the number for principals issued L-1 visas is 65,458 in 2005. As with H-1Bs, it is not that many in the context of an economy with approximately 147 million people in the labour force (0.045 per cent of the labour force)," Mr Mehta added.

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It's 1 in 3: India score in L visas