The current year’s interest in H-1B visa applications has seen significant fall from Hyderabad. According to a ToI report, the major part of falling demand has been due to doubling application fees and introducing stricter filing rules by the US government.
Hyderabad houses several big banks as global giants in the technology sphere, such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Oracle. Further, it plays a significant role in India’s IT exports and houses several professionals willing to travel to the United States for employment. However, many consultancies in the city are reporting a drastic decline in the number of applications this year, reflecting the attitude that potential applicants pose.
In the report, Arun Teja Bukkaparapu, who is currently managing a consultancy firm in Hyderabad, said, “I haven’t gotten any inquiries on H-1B visa filing yet this year.” According to him, it is because many potential candidates fear trying to apply for jobs in the US because of the high increase in processing fees from $10 to $215.
According to him, new regulations on limiting submissions for multiple applications under different employers are also further curtailing the number of applicants. “Previously, individuals were able to file multiple applications through different employers to improve their chances of getting selected. Now, only one application is allowed per passport, which has ended that demand,” he elaborated.
The program on H-1B visas enables the annual issuance of 65,000 visas with an extra 20,000 visas for those with higher qualifications from an institution in the US. While the Indians form a substantive chunk of the H-1B visa holders, there is not any special quota for them. According to agents, almost 1.5 million applications were filed last year, with around six to seven lakh unique submissions, as the rest of the file comes from individuals filling multiple applications.