India angry over visa rules
The economic stimulus package stipulates U.S. companies that receive bailout money cannot hire workers on H-1B visas.
Most H-1B visas go to engineers from India. Because India is facing its own rising unemployment rate, many Indians are unhappy about this policy.
What is an H-1B?
H-1B visas are temporary work permits that allow foreigners to work in the United States for up to six years. These permits have also been used to outsource jobs. The country caps the total amount of these visas that can be issued at 65,000 per year.
American perspective
One of the main goals of the economic stimulus package is to create jobs in the United States. So it makes sense that the administration would not want money that is intended to stimulate the U.S. economy to go toward paying salaries of non-U.S. citizens.
The cause of the upset
However, some leaders in India do not see it that way.
“This is just irrational protectionism,” says Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of India’s Planning Commission. “It makes no economic sense at all.”
Groups that oppose the H-1B provision in the stimulus package have started to take action.
Asking for exceptions
An Indian political group first tried to fight the new provisions by asking that Indians with H-1Bs be able to stay in the United States longer. Currently rules state that if workers with H-1B permits lose their jobs, they must leave the country within 30 days unless they find new jobs.
Good old-fashioned boycott
Nothing came of the request for extended stays, so the same political party has decided to arrange a boycott. Indian consumers have been asked to boycott goods from 14 U.S. companies. The general secretary of the Vishwa Hindu Parisha, the group that organized the boycott, won’t say which companies are being boycotted.
The rule is only for companies who receive bailout money. It is a good rule and makes sense to me. Other companies who are not getting a handout from the taxpayers can still outsource.
It’s a wonderful idea to not have to outsource ever again, but the ramifications could be potentially harmful. I’d love to see every available American employed, and gainfully, but the global economy depends on outsourcing, to one degree or another, in order for developing countries to be able to employ people. If we were to return to a more isolationist economy, the global repercussions could be devastating.
Makes perfect sense!!
Valencio