With US elections held on Tuesday, the discussions revolve around benefits of Indians from the elections with regard to H-1B visa.

What will the elections hold for Indians if either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris comes to power?

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa in the United States that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations.

Earlier in a 2016 primary debate, Trump dubbed the H-1B visa programme as ‘very bad’ and ‘unfair’ for US workers, indicating an anti-H-1B stance.

On the other hand, Harris favoured lifting the per-country ceiling on employment-based green cards available for immigrant workers (H1-B visas), a move that can benefit India workers seeking a US stint. 

According to her campaign statement, Harris believes that ‘we must do more to eliminate discriminatory backlogs and protect immigrant workers so they can stay in our country and continue to contribute to the economy’.

What is H-1B visa? Why is it important?

The H-1B programme applies to employers seeking to hire non-immigrant aliens as workers in specialty occupations of distinguished merit and ability.

A specialty occupation is one that requires the application of a body of highly specialised knowledge and the attainment of at least a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent. 

The H-1B visa enables IT companies like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, HCL Technologies, and Wipro to send employees to the United States.

Every year, the US issues 85,000 H-1B visas, from which, a master’s cap of 20,000 visas is reserved for the advanced US degree holders. The remaining 65,000 acquire the visa through the H-1B lottery rounds.

According to the data released by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Indian nationals received the highest number of H-1B visas or 72.3% of all the H-1B visas issued by the U.S. for the fiscal year 2023.

Also read:

H-1B visa process to begin on March 6 amid overhaul of lottery system

US Court upholds rule allowing H-1B spouses to work in the states