Modi takes up H-1B visa issue with Trump, seeks fair deal for Indian-Americans

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday subtly nudged American President Donald Trump to refrain from making changes in the H-1B visa programme and from inconveniencing Indian professionals in the United States.

He also nudged the US President to end the impasse over the proposed Totalization Agreement, which would help nearly 500,000 Indians working in the US on non-immigrant visas avoid double taxation on social security.

A day after a huge crowd cheered for President and the first lady of the United States both on the roads as well as in a newly-built stadium in Ahmedabad, Modi had formal talks with Trump in New Delhi and drove home the point that India-America relations were driven by people.

“The most important foundations of this special friendship between India and America are our people-to-people relations,” Modi said as he and Trump addressed media-persons after a meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi.

Trump's “America First” rhetoric and his vows to protect jobs for the Americans triggered apprehensions in New Delhi that some of the policies of his administration could hit India's Information Technology industry hard. New Delhi has been concerned over the proposed moves by Trump Administration to bring in changes in the H-1B and L-1 visa programmes to make it difficult for the skilled professionals from India and other countries, particularly the ones working in Information Technology sector, to stay and work in the US.

“Be it professionals or students, Indian Diaspora in America has been the biggest contributor to this (growth of India-US relations),” Prime Minister said on Tuesday, adding: “These ambassadors of India are not only contributing to the economy of the US with their talent and hard work. Rather, they are also enriching American society with their democratic values and rich culture”.

Trump issued an Executive Order titled “Buy American and Hire American” on April 18, 2017, which required different arms of the US Administration to suggest reforms to the H-1B visa programme. The US Administration already took some steps towards stricter enforcement and prevention of abuse of the work visa programmes.

According to latest publicly available statistics of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), 168,600 initial or new H-1B petitions were processed and completed in Fiscal Year 2019, out of which 35,633 petitions accounting for about 21.1% were denied. The share of Indian nationals in total H-1B visas has, however, remained stable at around 70% between Fiscal Years 2015 and 2018. “The H-1B visa application process has become more complex for employers worldwide, due to certain recent administrative changes in the H-1B programme which have increased documentation requirements on the petitioners. These changes have impacted the processing of H-1B petitions in general, entailing a higher level of scrutiny,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha earlier this month.

New Delhi has been prodding the US Administration to refrain from making any further executive move to change the H-1B and L-1 visa programmes. Modi Government has also been urging US lawmakers to resist any such moves in the American Congress.

When Prime Minister was joined by the US President to address 50000 Indian-Americans at the “Howdy! Modi” rally in Houston on September 21, New Delhi got an opportunity to highlight make Trump Administration appreciate the importance of Indian Diaspora in the US to take forward the bilateral relations.

Prime Minister reiterated during his meeting with American President that the movement of highly skilled professionals from India to the US, through programmes such as the H-1B visa, had been a mutually beneficial partnership, which should be nurtured. He is expected to recall the long history of foreign professionals going to the US and contributing to economic success of America.

“I have requested President Trump to take forward the two sides discussion on the Totalisation Agreement on social security contribution of our professionals. It will be in mutual interest,” Modi said.

India and US in 2015 resumed negotiations for a Totalization Agreement, but could not make much progress. Washington did not agree with New Delhi’s argument that schemes like Atal Pension Yojana, Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana, Employees Provident Fund Organization and others should be taken into account in order to determine the size of population covered under social security schemes in India. Washington argued that since the schemes were optional and not mandatory, it was not obligatory on part of the US Government to negotiate on Totalization Agreement with India, which had less than half of its population under social security schemes.