The move to place the cap on H-1B visas and to increase the minimum investment required to avail the EB-5 visas by United States of America would likely affect the movement of Indians to US for future prospects.
"The change in the policy of EB-5 which is likely to come into force from this October will have an adverse effect on Indians. If US Govt raises minimum investment required from present USD 5,00,000 to USD 1.35 million, it may reduce Indian applicants by 80 to 90 per cent", said Vivek Rao, an EB-5 expert, investment and immigration consultant told news agency ANI. It might also pose another challenge to Indians, issues from the regulatory body from RBI.
The United States has told India it is considering caps on H-1B work visas for nations that force foreign companies to store data locally, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, widening the two countries’ row over tariffs and trade. Two senior Indian government officials said on Wednesday they were briefed last week on a U.S. government plan to cap H-1B visas issued each year to Indians at between 10% and 15% of the annual quota. There is no current country-specific limit on the 85,000 H-1B work visas granted each year, and an estimated 70% go to Indians.
A Washington-based industry source aware of India-U.S. negotiations also said the US was deliberating capping the number of H-1B visas in response to global data storage rules. The move, however, was not solely targeted at India, the source said.
“The proposal is that any country that does data localization, then it (H-1B visas) would be limited to about 15% of the quota. It’s being discussed internally in the U.S. government,” the person said to Reuters.
EB-5 is an immigrant investment program for some wealthy Indians to live their American dream. It enables people to migrate to the US through a government-sponsored 'invest in the US and get a green card scheme'. In other words, it is a "paid invitation" for non-Americans to invest and live the 'American Dream'. According to the EB-5 investment program, the money will be invested in real estate, construction and other sectors to create jobs there. The money invested will also be returned to the investor after a stipulated period of time. The investor who gets a Green Card can do any work in the US. But, there is a cap. Only 10,000 EB-5 visas can be issued every year, the cap for each country 700.
Now, Trump administration thinks that the present limit is very low compared to other countries. The fees for a similar programme in Canada is USD 1 million, in Australia is 4 million and in the UK is USD 2 million. Indian administration may raise their eyebrows as such a huge investment going abroad is not so good for the nation. There may be regulatory issues from RBI.
Throwing light on the consequences on Indians, Rao, India head and Director of MCFI--Maryland Centre for Foreign Investments, LLC said there were a lot of Indian business professionals willing to invest or start a new business in the US- Indian children studying or working in the USA and wanted to settle in the USA. "There are many medical students aiming to pursue MD or any higher education in the USA universities. Any major changes in the policies will adversely affect the interests of these individuals, hence there are greater consequences", he added.
The popularity of EB-5 has skyrocketed in India after H1-B visas came under the lens of Trump administration and tightened the norms. India is the largest recipient of these temporary visas, most of them to workers at big Indian technology firms. H1B, which was on top priority until now, gave way to EB-5. But, with increase investment likely to come from this October, even that opportunity is also over. The multi-decade wait time has sparked the interest of Indian nationals for preferring EB-5 as a viable option to their immigration woes.
India has emerged as one of the major EB-5 investor. In terms of applicants, India ranks fourth (jointly with Brazil), followed by China, Vietnam and South Korea. The EB-5 visa is likely to go up and reach fifteen hundred by 2020 and two thousand by 2021. The plan to restrict the popular H-1B visa program, under which skilled foreign workers are brought to the United States each year, comes days ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to New Delhi.
With Inputs from ANI and Reuters
