Vivek Ramaswamy wants to ‘gut’ H-1B visa programme: What is it? Why does it matter to Indians?

Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican hopeful for the United States presidential election, is making headlines with his opposition to the H-1B visa programme, saying he will “finally fix it”. The entrepreneur created a stir with his remarks on the temporary worker visas which are predominantly sought by Indian IT professionals.Speaking to Politico, the Indian-American GOP candidate said he would “gut” the H-1B visa programme if he won the White House race next year.Let’s take a closer look at what Vivek Ramaswamy said about H-1B visas, what is the programme and how it affects Indians.Vivek Ramaswamy targets H-1B visasThe Indian-origin Republican, whose company has used the progamme in the past to hire skilled foreign workers, told Politico that the H-1B system is “bad for everyone involved” and likened it to "indentured servitude".“The lottery system needs to be replaced by actual meritocratic admission. It’s a form of indentured servitude that only accrues to the benefit of the company that sponsored an H-1B immigrant. I’ll gut it,” he said in a statement.“The people who come as family members are not the meritocratic immigrants who make skills-based contributions to this country.”As per the Politico report, Ramaswamy’s former company, Roivant Sciences, got approval from US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for 29 H-1B visa applications to hire foreign employees from 2018 to 2023.According to US Securities and Exchange Commission filings, as of 31 March, the pharma company and its subsidiaries had 904 full-time employees, including 825 in America.Reiterating his position today (18 September), Ramaswamy called the H-1B visa programme “senseless” in a post on X, formerly Twitter. "Turns out I actually understand the things I want to reform: the foreign visa 'lottery' is senseless & the H1-B regime is a form of indentured servitude that’s a product of corporate lobbying. I’ll finally fix it," he said.What are H-1B visas?H-1B visas are non-immigrant visas that allow US companies to hire foreign workers in “specialty occupations” requiring theoretical or technical expertise. Under the H-1B visa category, employees are generally recruited in the fields of mathematics, engineering, technology, and medical sciences.IT companies in the US use the visa programme to employ thousands of high-skilled workers from India and China every year.Foreign employees are usually hired for a three-year period under H-1B visas, which can be later extended to another three years.Currently, the US issues 65,000 visas annually, along with 20,000 additional visas for foreigners who graduate with a master’s degree or doctorate from America.[caption id="attachment_13138572" align="alignnone" width="640"]

The H-1B visa system allows US companies to hire foreign employees for 'specialty occupations'. Reuters (Representational Image)[/caption]There is a high demand for H-1B visas which often surpasses supply. For the fiscal year 2021, US companies submitted 780,884 applications for only 85,000 available slots, reported Politico.How ‘gutting’ H-1B visas will impact IndiansH-1B visas are quite popular among Indians. Indian workers got 72.6 per cent of the total 4.41 lakh H-1B applications approved by the USCIS in the fiscal year 2022, reported Times of India (TOI).The second was China, whose workers bagged 55,038 H1-B visas, followed by Canada at 4,235 successful applicants.Although it is restrictive, the H1-B programme ensures the company pays foreign workers the same wage rate as other employees with the same experience and qualifications, noted NDTV. According to the US government, India-based Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services, and American companies Amazon, Alphabet and Meta hire the most H1-B visa workers, reported Reuters. During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to America in June, the US Department of State said it plans to launch a pilot to adjudicate domestic renewals of some petition-based temporary work visas later this year, with the aim to implement this for an "expanded pool of H1-B and L visa holders" next year.In July, Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi introduced a bill to increase the cap on the H-1B work visas, doubling it from the current 65,000 to 130,000 annually.When Donald Trump attacked H1-B visasDonald Trump also took a hard stance towards the H1-B visa programme during his 2016 presidential campaign.To limit immigration, his administration had temporarily suspended the H-1B visas and other types of foreign work visas in 2020.With inputs from agencies