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Kerry for amendments to immigration bill

Last Updated 31 July 2014, 19:58 IST

US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday that the Obama administration will support amendments to the proposed US Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill to address India’s concerns over possible implication on its IT companies.

Kerry sought to reassure India and its IT industry after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj conveyed to him New Delhi’s concerns over the bill, which was passed by the Senate last year.
Swaraj took up the issue with Kerry when they co-chaired the fifth India-US strategic dialogue on Thursday.

The bill has provisions that seek to put in place a ban on client site placement for the workers with H1B visas, new restrictions on client site placement for the ones with L-1 visas and limits on total percentage of both H1B and L1 workers in the workforce of the US companies.

It seeks to hike the cap on H1-B visa from the current 85,000 to 1,95,000, but has provisions to penalise companies, which are primarily dependent on foreign professionals entering the US on such visas. New Delhi is of the view that such provisions in the proposed legislation might hurt the interests of the Indian IT companies doing business in the US.

The bill is yet to become a law as the House of Representatives is yet to pass the bill. Kerry, however, said on Thursday that the House was unlikely to take up the bill in the coming months.

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(Published 31 July 2014, 19:58 IST)

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