Senators to cause visa trouble for Indians?

This could be a cause for worry for Indian software engineers. An amendment seeking to bar US companies, which receive federal bailout money, from hiring H-1B visa holders has been introduced in the Senate, a move likely to impact Indian IT professionals if it is approved.

The amendment in the US legislature has been co-sponsored by the Republican Senator from Iowa, Chuck Grassley and the Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont.

Indian IT professionals, who have been the major beneficiaries of the American H-1B visa programme, could be adversely impacted if the amendment is approved by the Senate.

Introducing the amendment in the Senate, Sanders said: “It is essentially saying that there would be a suspension of H-1B programme of any institution, which would be receiving TARP (Troubled Assets Relief Programme) funds for just one year.”

“I firmly believe that companies going through layoffs that employ H-1B visas (holding workers) have a moral obligation to protect American workers by putting them first during these difficult times,” Sanders stressed while seeking bi-partisan support for his amendment.

Sanders also quoted a recent media report that said that the American banking industry had requested for more than 21,000 visas for foreign guest workers over the last six years.

“Hiring American workers for limited available jobs should be a top priority for businesses taking taxpayer money through the TARP program,” Senator Grassley said, adding if banks are going to be getting American taxpayer money than they should be hiring American workers.

Grassley underlined the need for US companies to hire qualified Americans who were looking for jobs as the global economic crisis had put large number of workers out of employment.

“With the unemployment rate at 7.2 per cent, there is no need for companies to hire foreign workers through the H1-B programme when there are plenty of qualified Americans looking for jobs,” Grassley said.

The Republican Senator from Iowa said he supports the H-1B programme, but it should be used in the way it was intended as a temporary measure to supplement a company’s need for hi-tech or specialised workers when none are available in the US.

Observing that H-1B and other work visa programmes were never intended to replace qualified American workers, Grassley argued now that many qualified bank employees are unemployed, banks who want to hire workers shouldn’t have a hard time finding what they need from an American workforce.

Grassley along with Senator Dick Durban had introduced a comprehensive H-1B and L visa reform bill in the previous 110th Congress. This was aimed at giving priority to American workers and crack down on employers who deprive qualified Americans of high-skill jobs.

The Senator has also asked questions of both US and foreign-based companies about their use of the H-1B visa programme.