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India is hopeful that the US will drop its plan to disallow spouses of H-1B non-immigrant visa holders to work in the country as the matter was of great concern for families located there, Commerce & Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu has said.
New Delhi has already communicated its concerns to Washington and would like to have the reality put into perspective that Indian companies in the US are contributing significantly in the growth of the US economy, Prabhu said at an event organised by American Chamber of Commerce in India.
“The US decision to put certain restrictions on visas is quite disappointing and we hope that the US will take corrective actions,” he said.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Francis Cissna, in a recent letter to US Senator Chuck Grassley, pointed out that the Trump administration was planning to terminate the provision allowing spouses of H-1B visa holders to work in America.
H-4 visa
“Our plans include proposing regulatory changes to remove H-4 dependent spouses from the class of aliens eligible for employment authorisation, thereby reversing the 2015 final rule that granted such eligibility,” Cissna said.
While H-1B visas allow foreigners to be employed by US companies in specialised occupations, H-4 visas, introduced by former US President Barack Obama, allows their spouses to work in the country.
The move to do away with H-4 visas would hit Indian families in the US significantly as large part of the approximately 70,000 H-4 visa holders with work permits are Indians.
IT professionals in the US increase productivity in the economy and improve services, Prabhu said. “We feel that the US must understand the concern of India,” he added.
New Delhi is already in discussions with the US at the World Trade Organization over its decision to impose additional duties on imports of steel and aluminium from India.
The US is India’s top export destination with shipment worth $ 47.9 billion shipped to the country in 2017-18, a growth of 13 per cent over the previous year. India’s imports from the US were at $ 26 billion in 2017-18 which was 16.5 per cent higher than the previous year.
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