Nearly half of H1B visa holders are from India: report

Nearly half of H-1B work visa holders in the US were from India, who were mostly hired for technology-related positions, according to an official report.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said that between 2000 and 2009, 46.9 per cent of the total approved H-1B visa holders had India as their country of birth.

"Between fiscal year 2000 and fiscal year 2009, the majority of approved H-1B workers (initial and extensions for both employers subject to the cap and cap-exempt employers) were born in Asia," said the report titled 'H-1B Visa Programme: Reforms are needed to minimise the risks and costs of current programme'.

"Over the last decade, the top four countries of birth for approved H-1B workers were India, China, Canada and the Philippines.