Thursday, Sep 28, 2023

IT sector hopes Biden will provide level playing field

Expects new US President-elect to be in favour of liberal immigration policies like H-1B and L-1 visas

By Sruti Venugopal

Published Date - 12:11 AM, Mon - 9 November 20

IT sector hopes Biden will provide level playing field

Hyderabad: Joe Biden’s win in the US Presidential election is being seen as a huge positive for the Indian IT industry with experts claiming that it will be a win-win situation for both industry and US economy if a few policies are relooked with a new lens. Industry experts are looking forward for a more supportive and less harsh stands to be taken by the new President-elect.

“We expect him to not make any surprising kind of moves when it comes to immigration and non-immigration policies like H-1B and L-1 visas particularly. Rather than making sudden executive decisions, we hope that the new government will look at making long-term arrangements and provide adequate notice to any organisation on the new policies being planned. Also with new technologies emerging, it would be in interest of both the countries to be more liberal on H-1B policies,” said Bharani Kumar Aroll, president, Hyderabad Software Enterprises Association (Hysea).

Cyient executive chairman BVR Mohan Reddy termed it as a “historical day”. “I feel proud to see the glass ceiling shattered and many barriers broken. Here is to many new paradigms of collaboration, inclusion and unity,” he tweeted.

In June, during the Covid-19 pandemic, US President Donald Trump had banned the entry of workers in several key non-immigrant visa categories including H-1B until the end of the year, arguing that they eat into American jobs. Those affected include the family members of the H-1B, L-1 and certain categories of J1 visas.

Later, the Trump administration announced certain exemptions in H-1B and L-1 travel bans for those continuing employment with the same employer, a move that could help Indian IT professionals and those working in the healthcare sector. These restrictions will set to continue till December as the new President-elect will assume office only in January.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

On the changes the industry is seeking from the new American government, Flt Lt Bipin Chandra Dutt Pendyala, chief operating officer, Invenio Business Solutions said, “The Trump administration had reduced the quota on H-1B visa and had also increased the minimum threshold salary from $60,000 to $100,000. The early indication of the newly-elected government is that they will be far more open in creating a level playing field which will be good for the Indian IT industry.”

Pendyala also pushed for a more qualification and salary-specific issuance of green card and move away from the country-specific green card issuance. Currently, the system for issuance of green card is based on lottery and there was a specific quota defined for each country based on which the citizenship is issued.

“Nasscom looks forward to working together with the new US Administration, to find solutions to the STEM skills gap, and enable America to be more competitive, to grow and create more jobs,” industry body Nasscom said. Nasscom president Debjani Ghosh shared Harris’ message where she said “While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last — because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities”.

(With Agency inputs)