‘US set to introduce in-country renewable for H-1B visa’

Washington: The US is set to introduce in-country renewable H-1B visas, a significant decision that would help thousands of Indian professionals staying in the country to continue with their jobs without the hassle of travelling overseas for the renewal of their work visas.

This is part of the people-to-people initiative, a senior administration official said ahead of the bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden at the White House here on Thursday.

The much-sought-after 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.

Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China. Over the past few months, the Biden administration has taken several steps to streamline the visa processing system and reduce inconveniences. The US last year issued 125,000 visas to Indian students, which is a record and they are on pace to become the largest foreign student community in the United States with a 20 per cent increase last year alone, the official explained.

“The second thing that we’re doing is the United States Department of State is going to launch a pilot to adjudicate domestic renewals of certain petition-based temporary work visas later this year.”