Why Trump’s visa plans mean desperate housewives in India
- Trump’s plan to overhaul the US visa system won’t just turn the screw on India’s IT workers. The dependents of even successful applicants may lose the right to work – reviving the days of the ‘involuntary housewife visa’
US President Donald Trump’s proposed crackdown on foreign work visas looks set to hit Indians particularly hard, with the administration seemingly intent on tightening the screws on the coveted H-1B visa programme.
Beginning in January, Washington will “revise” the visa scheme, which allows foreign workers to take jobs in the US. The move has already created jitters in Indian IT companies and employees. Over 75 per cent of the more than 400,000 H-1B holders are Indian nationals, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Shivendra Singh, the vice-president of Nasscom, an influential Indian IT association, said any changes to the H-1B visa programme would have serious repercussions for Indo-US relations. “IT exports, which are about US$126 billion, are crucial to the Indian economy,” he said.