Indian professionals with specialised skills will be the biggest beneficiaries of U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed immigration policy, said K.V. Kumar, chairman and CEO, Indian American International Chamber of Commerce (IAICC).
The IAICC represents over six lakh small and medium Indian or Indian-origin enterprises around the globe.
He insisted that the proposed immigration scheme, which will focus on a points-based system that prioritises the admission of immigrants with certain education and employment qualifications, would definitely help Indian professionals who are seeking U.S. visas/green cards.
“It proposes to consider 57% of immigrants for skill-based green cards. That’s over a fourfold increase from the existing 12%. A large population of Indians, who are currently on H-IB visas are going to benefit from it,” said Mr. Kumar who has worked with all U.S. Presidents starting with Ronald Reagan to Mr. Trump.
Though family visas may be cut to 33% from 66% now, under the new scheme, visa processing for spouses and parents will be done at a fast pace.
Based on his interaction with the SMB (small and medium business) community, Mr. Kumar further said, the Indian business community in the U.S. was quite upbeat about the proposed changes as it would increase the scope for talent transfer between the U.S. and India.
”India already is a huge beneficiary of U.S. visas and green cards. The U.S. will only be more gracious and willing to offer visas to eligible Indians. The fake Michigan University kind of incidents have spoilt the reputation of India. So, it is critical that governments, companies and educational institutions here do a proper screening of visa applicants to avoid embarrassments,” he cautioned.
As per a Washington DC-based fact tank, Pew Research Center, during fiscal 2017, some 748,746 people were granted family-based permanent residency in the U.S. Under employment based immigration (12%), 1,37,855 people were given residency, 1,20,356 came under refugees (11%), under others (6%) came 68,618 asylees and parolees and another 51,592 people were given permanent residency under diversity (5%).
“These new proposals, if approved by the Congress, have the potential to dramatically alter the immigration landscape of the U.S. It is encouraging that talent, skills and expertise will be given preference over family,'' said Sajai Singh, senior partner at J. Sagar Associates.
