H-1B visa filing drops by 50 percent

New Delhi: The protectionist measures and the economic slump in the U.S. have hit the demand for the H -1B visas as the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Council (USCIS) is yet to reach the targeted cap of 65,000 petitions for fiscal 2010. The council has received around 42,000 applications, which is just 'about half' the applications it needs for the quota to be filled.

"The visa cap has not been met yet as there is not enough business in the U.S. The visa update also validates our argument that H-1Bs are not being used to replace American workers, because if that was so, companies would have flocked to file petitions amid lay-offs in the US. That has not happened," said Nasscom President, Som Mittal told Business Line. The Indian firms, which had filed around 11,000 visas last year have opted for less applications this year.

Poorvi Chothani, a U.S. immigration attorney based in Mumbai, admits her firm has seen a 50 percent drop in H-1B filings this time. "Besides the fact that the basic demand is less, other factors such as a possible fear of a backlash in employing foreign professionals, and Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) curbs are likely to have influenced the filings," she said. The USCIS maintained that due to the lowered rate of filing, it will continue accepting petitions till it receives the required number of petitions to meet the respective caps.