Washington: The US has no plans to impose caps on the H-1B work visas for nations that force foreign companies to store data locally, according to a state department official who said the Trump administration's review of worker visa programmes is "completely separate" from the ongoing discussions with India over the free flow of data. The State Department spokesperson's remarks came after reports emerged that the US had told India it was considering capping the H-1B visas at 10-15 per cent for countries that had a data localisation policy.
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.
"The Trump administration's Buy American Hire American Executive Order called for a broad review of US worker visa programmes, including the H-1B programme," the spokesperson said. "This review is not targeted at a specific country and is completely separate from our ongoing discussions with India," the spokesperson said.