Of the total 441,000 H-1B applications approved by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) last year, 72.6 percent, or 320,000 were allocated to Indian nationals.
In addition to India, China was ranked in the second place in the list with the United States allotting a total of 12.5 percent of the H-1B visa applications to nationals from China, VisaGuide.World reports.
Ranked in the third position, the USCIS allocated one percent of the total approved visa applications for this kind of temporary work visa to nationals from Canada, according to a report in Times of India.
The same source confirmed that the figures of 441,000 also take into account the approval of a Person in Specialty Occupation Visa, known as an H-1B visa for initial employment and also for continued employment, known also as visa extensions.
The H-1B visas can be allocated for a period of six years. If the beneficiary of this visa is on track for a green card, periodical extensions are allowed.
The data provided by USCIS show that last year, the number of approved H-1B visa requests surged by a total of 8.6 percent. In 2022, 3.01 lakh Indians benefited from the H-1B visas or 74.1 percent of the total of visas approved in 2021.
The H-1B visa permits employers in the US to hire workers from other countries engaged in different fields such as architects, IT specialists, accountants, and doctors, among others.
According to the Times of India report, last year, about 77,673 Indians held an H-1B visa for new employment, accounting for 58.7 percent of the total. At the same time, 18,911 Chinese nationals obtained H-1B visas last year, or 14. 3 percent of the total.
The annual H-1B visa allocations are capped at 85,000. However, the annual limit is considered low, thus causing difficulties for US employers to secure international workers, based on a study provided by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP).
In order to permit a larger number of foreign nationals to benefit from this kind of visa, recently Congressman Shri Thanedar urged the US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to increase the cap for H-1B visas.
We must expand legal pathways for immigration, including by raising the cap for H-1B visas,” Indian-American Congressman pointed out, according to Economic Times India report.
Thanedar comments came during a Congressional hearing by the House Committee on Homeland Security about the FY 2024 Budget for the US Department of Homeland Security.
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