Doing Business in the US, a series of workshops to be conducted across six cities, is seeking to broad base the pool looking beyond traditional favourite IT sector.

Beginning Hyderabad, the interactive workshops, with experienced Attorneys, will be held in Chennai, followed by Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai and Delhi.

Consultancy services provider and mentor, Venkat Ramaneni, promoter of VisaPro and Start Business in America, said that the focus in the past was on attracting talent and companies engaged in providing IT services. "Now we are looking to attract companies in engineering services, pharma, biomedical and entertainment sectors," he said.

Each of these centres will have about 100 to 200 professionals, entrepreneurs taking part and seeking to explore new opportunities. These could be those already based in the US but facing difficulties in expanding or impacted by immigration related issues or companies looking to have their presence there.

According to data from Nasscom, Ramaneni said 40 per cent applicants face rejection with regards to immigration related issues. This could be merely documentation problem. As against this, those who approach the process assisted by experts, including immigration attorneys, the success rate is 100 per cent.

"The bilateral trade between India and the US is likely to cross $ 100 billion mark. If we manage to identify about 100 companies, they will have the potential to add to this numbers," he said.

"Referring to H1-B Visa, our advice to applicants is they must apply in advance as the process lasts barely few weeks. And in the case of L-1 Visas, they need to adhere to compliance issues," he said.

rishikumar.vundi@thehindu.co.in

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