The reformed H1B visa bill and its implications

Main features of the new bill 

1. The minimum salary of an H1B visa holder employee will be increased to $130,000 from current              minimum of $60,000.

2. The "per country cap" for employment based immigrant visas would be abolished.

3. 20% of annualy allocated H1B visas have been set aside for startup companies and small employers employing less than 50 people.

4. The authority of Department of Labour would be enhanced in audit , investigation and compliance matters of big companies with penal powers towards the reformed law.

5. There is explicit prohibition on replacement of American workers with foreign H1B visa holders.

Implications : From a common US citizen point of view  , it would be a great step. US is already suffering from large scale unemployment. They accuse the present system of H1B visa as exploitative with loss of jobs to Chinese and Indians mainly.

The margin of profit of big companies would be reduced because their expenditure would increase. It may affect the innovation and enterpreneurial spirits of the companies. It would also affect outsourcing of IT services to Indian companies.

It would also boost the startup companies as they are often unable to compete with big companies because of this visa system. They can also now hire skilled foreign labour.

The H1B visa holders often take their families with themselves driving other sectors like real estate , banking , hospitality etc. The new system may slow down the economy.

For foreign aspirants to enter into US , the new bill if passed would be a shock. The quality of skill needed to enter US would become very advanced. Though , one advantage can be said to be the increament in minimum salary. 

The people craving for going to US for short period training and then return would suffer from the new law. The existing optional practical training (OPT) visas issued to students after completing their studies to gain work experience would be abolished.

The current visa regime provides for an allocation of first 20000 visas every year out of 65000 visas to US Master's Degree holder.  The new law would be eliminating such exemption. Besides it , the new law is also considered to be a career killer. It would be reinstating the restriction imposed on spouses of H1B visa holders from working in US which was abolished in 2015. 

India needs to develop and keep its house in order to accomodate the labour and capital quitting American shores. India is an emerging market providing plenty of opportunities. However , it also needs to develop strategies to tackle the sudden increase in unemployment.