Spike in H-1B visa refusal for Indian IT firms

The Trump administration’s restrictive immigration policies have led to massive increase in the rejection of petitions for H-1B visas with the highest denial rate among major Indian IT companies, according to a study by an American think-tank.

The National Foundation for American Policy study, based on data from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), showed that denial rates for H-1B petitions, popular among Indian IT professionals, have quadrupled from just six per cent in 2015 to 24 per cent in the third quarter of the current fiscal.

The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.