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At a time when most people use keyboards to write, does handwriting really matter? Yes, say Indian courts, if the writer is a doctor. Jokes around the notoriously bad handwriting of many doctors that can only be deciphered by pharmacists are common in India, as around the world. But the latest order emphasising the importance of clear handwriting came recently from the Punjab and Haryana High Court which said that "legible medical prescription is a fundamental right" as it can make a difference between life and death. The court order came in a case that had nothing to do with...

After US President Donald Trump and Congress failed to reach a funding deal by Wednesday's deadline, the government shutdown began. As a result, hundreds of thousands of federal employees face furloughs, and many offices will be closed. H-1B visas will also face a pause until the shutdown ends, says immigration attorney Nicole Gunara. She said that H-1B visa filings will not be processed until the Congress can agree on federal funding allocations.

Apoorva arrived in New York in 2018 on an H-1B visa, fresh from one of India’s top graduate schools and brimming with hope of building a life in the United States. She soon joined an architecture firm, eager to contribute her skills and establish roots. But her dreams were quickly dashed — because Apoorva, like many other immigrants on an H-1B, soon experienced some visa-related issues. She recalled being stuck at her minimum wage architecture job for over three years. Changing jobs on an H-1B visa is famously difficult, and often means enduring months of bureaucratic limbo and steep United...

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) are reintroducing bipartisan legislation to reform and close loopholes in the H-1B and L-1 visa programs. The H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act targets fraud and abuse in our immigration system, provides protections for American workers and visa holders and enhances transparency in the foreign worker recruitment process. Grassley and Durbin have long partnered to improve the H-1B visa system and first introduced their bipartisan legislation in 2007. Last week, the senators sent letters to 10 major U.S. employers, including Amazon, Google and Meta, scrutinizing their heavy...

Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today introduced the Visa Cap Enforcement Act. This bill restricts the ability of universities, research institutions, and non-profits to hire an unlimited number of foreign workers. “Colleges and universities shouldn’t get special treatment for bringing in woke and anti-American professors from around the world. My bill closes these loopholes that universities have abused for far too long,” said Senator Cotton. Text of the bill can be found here. The Visa Cap Enforcement Act would: Eliminate four exemptions to the H-1B visa cap, including one for foreigners who hold a master’s degree or higher from a U.S....

Thousands of young Indians have mapped their adult lives with the aim of moving to the US, plans that now lie in tatters. Meghna Gupta* had planned it all – a master’s degree by 23, a few years of working in India, and then a move to the United States before she turned 30 to eventually settle there. So, she clocked countless hours at the Hyderabad office of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s largest IT firm and a driver of the country’s emergence as the global outsourcing powerhouse in the sector. She waited to get to the promotion that would...

Several Indian students who secured job offers in the United States have seen their offers withdrawn after US President Donald Trump announced the $1,00,000 H-1B visa policy. Under the new rule, US employers who are looking to sponsor H-1B visas should pay a one-time fee of $1,00,000, which many companies now cite as a reason to back out. Thousands of students, who are currently on F-1 visas, wanted to bag a job in the United States and obtain an H-1B visa. But with the new rules and skyhigh price on the visa, the companies are reluctant to pay the amount,...

Paridhi Upadhaya was packing her bags after securing a computer science scholarship in the US until headlines of President Donald Trump's H-1B visa crackdown last week prompted her family in Lucknow, India, to scrap the plan. “Trump's unending onslaught against immigrants is forcing us to consider other destinations for her,” the 18-year-old's father Rudar Pratap said. Upadhaya is among thousands of Indians for whom the American dream of world-class education, lucrative careers, better quality of life and social mobility is turning sour due to rising US visa restrictions and policy unpredictability. For decades the H-1B visa has been the gateway...

The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the launch of Project Firewall, an H-1B enforcement initiative that will safeguard the rights, wages, and job opportunities of highly skilled American workers by ensuring employers prioritize qualified Americans when hiring workers and holding employers accountable if they abuse the H-1B visa process. “The Trump Administration is standing by our commitment to end practices that leave Americans in the dust. As we reestablish economic dominance, we must protect our most valuable resource: the American worker. Launching Project Firewall will help us ensure no employers are abusing H-1B visas at the expense of our...

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said that there will be a significant number of changes to the H1B visa process before February 2026. This comes ahead of the new one-time USD 100,000 fee for new H1B work visas. Lutnick described the idea of inexpensive tech consultants coming to the US with their families as completely wrong. -snip- In addition to the new fee, the US Department of Labour has launched an initiative called Project Firewall. This enforcement programme aims to protect the rights, wages, and job opportunities of highly skilled American workers. The initiative ensures that employers prioritise qualified...

Donald Trump's new $100,000 fee on H-1B foreign visas has shattered the dreams of Indian university students hoping to make it big in the United States. -snip- n 2023, nearly three-quarters, approximately 73 percent, of all H-1B workers whose applications were approved were born in India, according to the Pew Research Center. When the White House announced the $100,000 fee last week, students at technical universities across Indian said their hearts broke. 'My dreams were shattered,' Sai Jagruthi, a 17-year-old engineering student at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, told The New York Times. She said her father called her to tell...

India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal reacted to the H-1B visa fee being hiked to $100,000 by US President Donald Trump, saying that the world is “a little afraid of Indian talent” and exhorted Indians working abroad to “come to India, innovate here, design here”. Goyal, who will be leading the Indian delegation in the US for the next round of talks for a trade deal amid tensions over tariffs, made remarks apparently reacting to the $100,000 fee on H-1B visas used mostly by high-skilled Indian workers in the US. The minister also said that “different countries across the...

India said on Saturday that the Trump administration’s move to increase U.S. H-1B visa fees to $100,000 per year was likely to have humanitarian consequences, warning of potential disruptions for families. India was the largest beneficiary of the U.S. H-1B skilled worker visas last year, accounting for 71% of approved applications. Companies will now have to pay the new $100,000 per year fee, which is set to take effect from Saturday midnight. (0400 GMT on Sunday). The move, announced on Friday, could further strain ties between India and the U.S., which hit their lowest point in decades after President Donald...

Hours after the US administration put a prohibitive USD 100,000 (about Rs 88 lakh) as fee for H-1B visa applications, India said on Saturday that this measure is likely to have “humanitarian consequences by way of the disruption caused for families” and the Indian government expressed hoped that these disruptions can be “addressed suitably by the US authorities”. The Ministry of External Affairs’ official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “The Government has seen reports related to the proposed restrictions on the US H-1B visa program. The full implications of the measure are being studied by all concerned, including by Indian industry,...

New Delhi: United States President Donald Trump hiking H-1B non-immigrant visa fees to a steep USD 100,000 would affect thousands of Indian students with the American dream. It will sharply reduce low and mid-paid H-1B hiring, concentrate approvals on senior and high-value roles, and force employers and employees to shift to alternative pathways, or restructure staffing models. Immediate effects are already visible in travel advisories and market reactions; medium-term effects will reshape sourcing strategies in tech, professional services, and higher education. The hike would mainly affect those aspiring for a middle or entry-level jobs, where the early career median wage...

India’s top IT industry body, Nasscom, has raised alarm over the US’ decision to impose a steep USD 100,000 annual fee on H-1B visa applications, warning that the move could disrupt global operations of Indian technology services companies and unsettle thousands of skilled professionals working onshore in the US. The IT body added that what is even more concerning is that the order, which takes effect at 12:01 am on September 21, leaves just a one-day window for compliance. Nasscom said the abrupt rollout has created “considerable uncertainty for businesses, professionals, and students across the world.” Adjustments of this nature...

The Trump administration said on Friday it would ask companies to pay $100,000 per year for H-1B worker visas, potentially dealing a big blow to the technology sector that relies heavily on skilled workers from India as well China. Tech giants Amazon and Microsoft have already advised their foreign employees holding H-1B and H-4 visas to immediately return to the United States and urged the H-1B holders to stay in the US "for the foreseeable future", according to internal communications seen by Reuters. In internal notes circulated to staff, Amazon urged H-1B visa holders currently in the United States to...

A leading U.S. tech giant has issued an urgent advisory to its H-1B employees visiting India, warning that they may be unable to return to the United States after September 21, unless their visa petitions carry an additional $100,000 payment as required under a new Trump administration proclamation. Employees already in the U.S. have been told to remain there for the foreseeable future to avoid being locked out. While the proclamation does not directly reference H-4 dependents, the advisory recommends that spouses and children on dependent visas also avoid international travel. -snip- For H-1B employees currently outside the U.S., including...

-snip- Foreign workers, starting September 21, can’t enter the U.S. on an H-1B visa unless their employer’s petition (the paperwork requesting the visa) includes an extra $100,000 payment to the federal government. This fee must be renewed and paid annually, according to United States Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick. -snip- Nationally, there are approximately 730,000 active H-1B holders as of early 2025. -snip- Washington currently ranks 4th nationally for H-1B activity. The state, particularly the Seattle metropolitan area, is a major hub for the U.S. tech industry, with companies like Amazon and Microsoft relying heavily on H-1B visas to hire...