India raises visa concerns with US trade secretary
India on Monday took up the visa issue with US asking to it not to take any step which is detrimental to the interest of Indian IT professionals.
“We hope that there will not be any measure which negatively impact on the movement of professionals between the two countries, particularly, our IT professionals in the US,” the commerce minister, Mr Anand Sharma, said after a meeting with the US commerce secretary, Mr Gary Locke. Some of the actions taken by the US government on the visa front are expected to hit India’s IT sector.
Around one-and-a-half-months back the US President, Mr Barack Obama, signed into law the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. The act aims to create a $ 4.3 billion fund to provide free medical treatment to those suffering from illnesses contracted while clearing the debris at the Ground Zero in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attack. The act proposes to raise this money by imposing a two per cent fee on imports by US government from countries which are not signatories to the WTO agreement on government procurement. This provision will impact countries like India, China and Thailand. It also proposes continuation of a increased fee on certain categories of H-1B and L1 visas which would mainly impact Indian IT companies.
Last year, the US government had hiked fee for H1-B and L1 visas, which could impact domestic IT industry. The last two years have seen several protectionist measures taken by the US government, many of which hurt Indian exporters. On its part, the US also wants India to reduce trade barriers.
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