US has not made major change to H-1B regime: Sushma Swaraj

NEW DELHI: Allaying apprehensions over changes in H-1B visa rules, foreign minister Sushma Swaraj said there had, so far, been no major change in the H-1B programme, adding India had been in touch with the US administration and US Congress over the issue .
In response to Congress Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Shukla, who had raised his concerns over the issue on January 4, Swaraj noted that whatever changes had been made were meant to enforce existing rules strictly and to stop the programme's misuse.

She assured Shukla that the government had been keeping a close eye on the issue, and been in touch with all the stakeholders to protect the interests of Indian techies and employers in the US.

In her February 2 note, she also referred to a January 8 statement of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, wherein it was clarified that the Trump administration was not considering any proposal that could force the deportation of hundreds of thousands of H-1B visa-holders.