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.