Engaged with US for ensuring increasing predictability in visa regime: MEA

India says it is engaging with the US to increase predictability in the visa regime. The US has decided to scrap the computerised lottery system to select H1-B visas.

New Delhi: India on Thursday said it engaged with the US for ensuring increasing predictability in the visa regime, noting that people-to-people relationship is an important foundation of the special relationship between the two countries. The remarks on the issue by External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava came when asked to comment on Washington's move to scrap the computerised lottery system to select H-1B visas.

The H-1B visa, most sought-after among Indian IT professionals, is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. "People-to-people relationship is an important foundation of the special relationship between India and the US. In our engagements, we have emphasised that this has been a mutually-beneficial partnership which should be nurtured," Srivastava said.

"We are engaged with the US government for increasing predictability in the visa regime and to minimise the inconvenience being faced by those in the US or those who need to travel to the US for bonafide reasons," he said at a media briefing. Srivastava said India will continue to monitor any developments on this issue. The Donald Trump administration has proposed to scrap the computerised lottery system to grant H-1B work visas to foreign technology professionals and replace it with a wage-level-based selection process. A notification on the new system is being published in the Federal Register on Thursday.

PTI