H-1B visa row: Skilled worker movement helps both US and India, says MEA

India-US economic ties benefit significantly from the technical expertise provided by skilled professionals

The movement of skilled professionals, which is an important part of India-US ties, benefits both countries, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday amid a deepening debate over H-1B visas, on which US President-elect Donald Trump and his backer Elon Musk have recently commented.

 

“India-US economic ties benefit a lot from the technical expertise provided by skilled professionals, with both sides leveraging their strengths and competitive value. We look forward to further deepening India-US economic ties, which are to our mutual benefit,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, replying to questions about the H-1B visa debate in the US.

 

“Both our countries have a strong and growing economic and technological partnership, and within this ambit, mobility of skilled professionals is an important component,” he stressed.

 

The ongoing debate over the H-1B visa broke out last month (December) after two of Trump's close confidants — Tesla owner Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy — came out in support of the visa. Both have been tasked to head the newly created Department of Government Efficiency. On the other side are leading MAGA (Make America Great Again) proponents, who want US tech companies to hire more Americans. Late last month, Trump said he fully backed the H-1B programme for foreign workers after Musk vowed to go to "war" to defend it.

 

Indians are the main beneficiaries of H-1B visas, which bring in the best of the talent and brains from across the world. Introduced in 1990, the visas were intended to bring highly skilled foreign workers temporarily to the US. Visa-holders could apply for green cards and extend their stay in the country.

 

However, the visas are capped at 65,000 annually, with an additional 20,000 for those who received higher education from the US.

 

Indian IT companies have been a major beneficiary of the scheme, and receive visas through a lottery system. India remains closely engaged with the US government on all issues relating to movement of Indian professionals, including those under the H-1B visa programme, through the appropriate India-US bilateral dialogue mechanism. According to the data released by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Indian nationals received the highest number of H-1B visas, or 72.3 per cent of all the H-1B visas issued by the US for the financial year 2023.

 

India is keen to strengthen ties under Trump, Jaiswal said. He noted that External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar and the Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri visited the US last month and held meetings with Trump's transition team.

 

Both Musk and Ramaswamy have argued that H-1B visas are essential to attract the best of the talent, as the US falls short in many of the specialised fields. They have been joined by Indian American Democratic lawmakers, including Ro Khanna, Raja Krishnamoorthi, and Shri Thanedar, who have come out in support of H-1B visas, after a sudden backlash against it as soon as Trump appointed Sriram Krishnan as his senior policy advisor for artificial intelligence (AI).