Nasscom on Thursday welcomed the move of the U.S. Department of State (DoS) to allow for national interest exemptions in issuing of visas.

The industry body said it believed the move would help the U.S. businesses access talent critical to the economic recovery in the post-COVID-19 world.

“However, we remain cautiously optimistic, as caveats in the DoS guidance about seniority, unique and significant contributions and/or other factors that go along with the exceptions still allow a lot of leeway in interpretation of the new guidance. The impact can only be gauged in course of time,” Nasscom said.

DoS has issued a guidance on “National Interest Exemptions” to the Presidential Proclamations suspending entry of certain immigrant and non-immigrant (H-1B, H-2B, and L-1) visa holders into the United States, issued in April-2020 and June-2020.

Both Proclamations included exemptions for individuals whose entry into the US would be in “national interest”, as determined by the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, or their respective designees.

The National Interest Exemptions includes potential carve-outs/ exemptions for technology workers on H-1B/ L-1 visas providing critical infrastructure services, as per the DHS CISA guidance, which had been a key demand by Nasscom and the Indian tech industry. It also includes exceptions for H-1B/ L-1 visa-holders who would be returning to the U.S. in the same position with the same employer and visa classification.

Nasscom has consistently raised the importance of visa holders working within the tech sector, particularly those who would be delivering services designated essential as per the DHS CISA “Guidance on the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce”, particularly those who would be returning to the U.S. in the same position with the same employer and visa classification.