Vivek Ramaswamy again bets to gut ‘lottery’ H-1B visa, vows to restore ‘meritocratic’ immigration

For a second time in as many days, Indian-American Republican White House aspirant Vivek Ramaswamy has criticised the popular H-1B visa programme, saying the current ‘lottery’ system needs to be ‘gutted’ and replaced with a ‘meritocratic’ skill-based immigration scheme to match the needs of the US.

“It’s a lottery. Why on earth would you use a lottery when you could use meritocratic admission instead, restore merit,’ Ramaswamy told Fox News in an interview on Sunday.

The H-1B visa, much sought-after among Indian IT professionals, is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.