Tech-savvy US cannot afford to deport techies

Hyderabad: Techies with H-1B visas awaiting a green card heaved a sigh of relief, following the announcement from US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), that it is not considering a regulatory change that would force H-1B visa holders to leave the United States. The largest portion of H-1B visas are issued to the Indians, and a major chunk of that goes to Telugu-speaking states of TS and AP. When US President Donald Trump took a hard line on immigration soon after assuming office a year ago, it was feared that H-1B visas would be in a jeopardy.

Subhakar Alapati, director of the Hyderabad-based visa consultancy firm Global Tree, said that initially there was much apprehension among techies, but the USCIS has not updated its website for almost six months now. “There is a scarcity of technical professionals in the US. Not even 10-15 per cent of American students register in IT related courses. In such a technologically advanced country, deporting lakhs of Indians, especially techies, in one go, will not happen,” he said.

It may be mentioned here that the USCIS had stated that it had never considered a policy change that would force H-1B visa holders to leave the US. Even if such a proposal came up, people would not be deported as companies could request extensions in one-year increments under a different section, the immigration service had said. “We were certain that this is just a passing cloud like many other rumours that kicked off from the onset of Mr Trump’s presidency. However, there is a noticeable change in the way people perceive H-1B now, especially among our Indian counterparts. Every speculation about H-1B is triggering a panic not only among our families but offshore teams. However, we are paying more attention to the news and are very conscious,” said a techie Sai Lakshmi from Hyderabad now working in Philadelphia on a H-1B visa.

There has been a drop in the number of people applying for H-1B and students going to the US to pursue master’s degrees. “Due to the uncertainty, people in the city are hesitant to fly to the US and the number of people enquiring about travelling to the US has reduced. However, there is a surge in students looking at Canada and Australia for higher education. Canada has recently come out with the Canada express entry regulation, which makes it flexible for IT specialists to move to the country.”

B. Anirudh, a techie, said, “Canada is also a land of opportunities. Indian techies are already working on lots of Canadian projects. When the world is moving towards technology, the chances of technology folks being deported is less in any country."