US matching Indian 'babus' with flip-flop visa policy

Washington: All is never fair in life but the degree of unfairness matters. When a particular group is targeted for no apparent reason except the heated political climate, it is time to ask why. Skilled Indian professionals seeking H-1B and L-1 visas to work in the United States are being denied entry in large numbers. Arbitrarily, it seems.

A new study by an American policy research organisation has confirmed the worst fears of Indian IT companies that they are getting the third degree by US authorities for visas. The statistics are appalling and have been getting worse over the past four years.

[caption id=“attachment_212390” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Indians paid a whopping $200 million in visa fees over the last five years of which an estimated $30-$50 million worth of visas were rejected.”] [/caption]

Indians are the new Mexicans - with due respect to Mexican workers - and their denial rates now match.

The American “babus” are proving a formidable match for their Indian counterparts in the exercise of discretionary power. The law has not changed but their interpretation surely has since the recession hit. Otherwise how does one explain the dramatic rise in the rate of denial for Indian workers?

The visa issue has become big enough for India that Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai articulated it rather strongly last week in his public address at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Calling it a “non-tariff barrier,” he said it had become an easy way to shake down aspiring Indians for hefty visa fees only to turn them down.

Indians paid a whopping $200 million in visa fees over the last five years of which an estimated $30-$50 million worth of visas were rejected. “The pink slip has become a greenback!” said the mild-mannered Mathai.

This is after Indian IT majors have duly paid $15 billion in US taxes over the last five years, employed more than 100,000 people in the US and supported another 200,000 jobs and made some US industries competitive. Indian workers also pay an estimated $1 billion in social security every year while they are here, none of which will be any comfort when they retire. Successive US governments have refused to even discuss an agreement leave alone sign one to pay back social security, citing one technicality after another.

In short, the much-maligned H-1B and L-1 brigade puts in more than its fair share into American coffers in hard currency, to say nothing of the sweat and tears.

By targeting them, American politicians are undermining the very segment of society that believes in economic reforms, strong relations with the US and other such “good” things.

The study by the National Foundation for American Policy, a respected non-partisan public policy organization, reveals depressing trends. Indians are increasingly being denied H-1B and L-1B visas by immigration and consular officers who sit in judgment on their lives. In 2008, 2.8 percent of Indians seeking L-1B visas meant for “transfer of those with specialized knowledge” within the same company were denied. But the denial rate jumped to 22.5 percent in 2009 for Indian applicants. More Indian L-1B petitions (1,640) were denied in 2009 than in previous nine years combined (1,341), the study reveals.

The rate for Canadians rose from 2 percent to 2.9 percent. For China the denial rate went up from 2 percent in 2008 to 5.9 percent in 2009. France, Germany, Japan and Britain stayed in the low range.

So what is going on? Numbers don’t lie, at least not casually. The trend sadly coincides with President Barack Obama’s term, a leader Indians instinctively liked and continue to admire because of what he represents. But he did stir the outsourcing pot during his campaign to garner support from certain unions and lobbies.

US companies believe that “new (unwritten) arbitrary standards that go beyond the statute and regulations” are being applied because the law has not changed. In many cases, applicants and their sponsoring companies are being asked to provide extra evidence, making the process unpredictable and lengthy. Some are being asked to prove their “extraordinary ability” for L-1B visas by producing a patent. Some of those who own patents are still denied, according to the report.

Official State Department data cited by the report show 35,896 L-1 visas were approved in India in 2010 but the number dropped to 25,898 in 2011. In light of the displeasure of immigration and consular officials since 2009, the companies are obviously not applying in as large numbers as before. The unpredictability has affected Indian IT companies as projects get delayed because qualified personnel can’t enter the US. The lengthy process of providing more evidence leaves people and companies in a limbo.

The rising graph of denials comes on top of the setback of 2010 when the US Congress raised the visa fees by $2,000 for H-1B. The law was written in a manner as to basically hurt Indian IT companies, which generate 60 percent of their revenues from the US.

It is true that the bulk of L-1 visas granted by the US go to Indian professionals but even providing for that reality, the rate of denial is serious. Indian IT companies are not without blame in the whole visa game. Infosys faced an investigation last year after allegations by a whistle blower that it was misusing the short-term B-1 visa to bring workers to the US instead of applying for H1-B because the process had become more difficult. Infosys staunchly denied the charges.

The important thing to remember is that India and the United States have a stake in each other’s success. To hurt an important constituency of Indians will have ripple effects.

What is needed is a level-playing field not special favours for Indian workers. The process of adjudication must have the same standards for all nationalities. It should not be discriminatory.

When all is said and done, hyper US politicians can’t deny that many US companies have stayed afloat because offshoring has improved their bottomline.

Seema Sirohi is a Washington-based journalist. You can follow her @seemasirohi