Hyderabad: New US law may open doors to more techies

Hyderabad: The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019 passed by the US House of Representatives has brightened the prospects of Indians who want to migrate to the United States to migrate and has assured the high possibility of securing a green card.

Once the Bill is passed by the Senate, the upper house of the US Congress, it will clear the path for many Telugus given that a large number of immigration and foreign education aspirants are from TS and AP, and many in the US are in the queue for the green card.

To be sure, the Bill is to be passed by the Senate, the upper house of the US Congress, and there is a while to go before it can happen. Once it does, it will clear the path for many Telugus given that a large number of immigration and foreign education aspirants are from Telangana state and AP  and many in the US are in the queue for the green card.

Mr Xavier Augustin, founder and chief executive officer of Y-Axis, said, “The takeaway from this is that the US is opening doors to more Indian professionals, especially technical experts. The H1- B approval will directly lead to them getting a green card in the US.” He said that the passing of this Bill shows how much the US relies on Indian tech professionals whom they want to stay back.

“Secondly, they would like more experts to come to the US. This will bring H1-B back into fashion. Also, all the pending tech category applicants for the green card will go to Indians. The process will be smoothly transitioned,” Mr Augustin said.

The Bill seeks to increase the 7 per cent per country limit to 15 per cent. The Bill will cut the waiting time for those applying for permanent residency and allows green card holders to live and work permanently in the US. All eyes now are on the progress of the Bill to the Senate and to complete the legislative process to become law.

Janetha Kancharla, Esq, attorney and immigration lawyer, told Deccan Chronicle, “Earlier while approving the green card, every member of the family was counted. In case a family of four has applied for a green card, they will limit it to parents and at times one child. With the new Bills, the family will be considered as one unit.”

Mr Todd Schulte, president, FWD.us, an advocacy organisation representing top Silicon Valley companies, including Facebook, Google, Microsoft and DropBox, said, “This Bill will help ensure that those seeking permanent residency will not have to face extraordinary wait times — projected at 50 years or more for people from countries like India and China — simply because of their country of origin.”

“Eliminating ‘per-country’ caps for employment-based green cards and raising caps for family-based green cards will make the system fairer for immigrant families while also strengthening the United States’ ability to recruit and retain top global talent by establishing a fair and predictable path to permanent legal status,” he said.

The Bill which was championed by Sunayana Dumala, the wife of Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla who was shot dead in a hate crime shooting, said that it was an important day and “a moment we have been waiting for years. Finally, our hard work and tireless efforts have come into fruition,” The Kansas City Star reported.