Vivek Ramaswamy wants to ‘gut’ H-1B visa programme: What is it? Why does it matter to Indians?

Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican hopeful for the United States presidential election, is making headlines with his opposition to the H-1B visa programme, saying he will “finally fix it”. The entrepreneur created a stir with his remarks on the temporary worker visas which are predominantly sought by Indian IT professionals. Speaking to Politico, the Indian-American GOP candidate said he would “gut” the H-1B visa programme if he won the White House race next year. Let’s take a closer look at what Vivek Ramaswamy said about H-1B visas, what is the programme and how it affects Indians. Vivek Ramaswamy targets H-1B visas The Indian-origin Republican, whose company has used the progamme in the past to hire skilled foreign workers, told Politico that the H-1B system is “bad for everyone involved” and likened it to “indentured servitude”. “The lottery system needs to be replaced by actual meritocratic admission. It’s a form of indentured servitude that only accrues to the benefit of the company that sponsored an H-1B immigrant. I’ll gut it,” he said in a statement. “The people who come as family members are not the meritocratic immigrants who make skills-based contributions to this country.” As per the Politico report, Ramaswamy’s former company, Roivant Sciences, got approval from US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for 29 H-1B visa applications to hire foreign employees from 2018 to 2023. According to US Securities and Exchange Commission filings, as of 31 March, the pharma company and its subsidiaries had 904 full-time employees, including 825 in America. Reiterating his position today (18 September), Ramaswamy called the H-1B visa programme “senseless” in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “Turns out I actually understand the things I want to reform: the foreign visa ’lottery’ is senseless & the H1-B regime is a form of indentured servitude that’s a product of corporate lobbying. I’ll finally fix it,” he said.

.@Politico tried to play “gotcha” by saying I want to gut the H1-B system even though my companies have used it to hire foreign graduates from top U.S: universities. Well, U.S. energy sector regulations are badly broken, but I still use water & electricity. Turns out I actually… pic.twitter.com/EpbLY5S5Pc

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) September 17, 2023

What are H-1B visas? H-1B visas are non-immigrant visas that allow US companies to hire foreign workers in “specialty occupations” requiring theoretical or technical expertise. Under the H-1B visa category, employees are generally recruited in the fields of mathematics, engineering, technology, and medical sciences. IT companies in the US use the visa programme to employ thousands of high-skilled workers from India and China every year. Foreign employees are usually hired for a three-year period under H-1B visas, which can be later extended to another three years. Currently, the US issues 65,000 visas annually, along with 20,000 additional visas for foreigners who graduate with a master’s degree or doctorate from America. [caption id=“attachment_13138572” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The H-1B visa system allows US companies to hire foreign employees for ‘specialty occupations’. Reuters (Representational Image)[/caption] There is a high demand for H-1B visas which often surpasses supply. For the fiscal year 2021, US companies submitted 780,884 applications for only 85,000 available slots, reported Politico. How ‘gutting’ H-1B visas will impact Indians H-1B visas are quite popular among Indians. Indian workers got 72.6 per cent of the total 4.41 lakh H-1B applications approved by the USCIS in the fiscal year 2022, reported Times of India (TOI). The second was China, whose workers bagged 55,038 H1-B visas, followed by Canada at 4,235 successful applicants. Although it is restrictive, the H1-B programme ensures the company pays foreign workers the same wage rate as other employees with the same experience and qualifications, noted NDTV.  According to the US government, India-based Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services, and American companies Amazon, Alphabet and Meta hire the most H1-B visa workers, reported Reuters.  During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to America in June, the US Department of State said it plans to launch a pilot to adjudicate domestic renewals of some petition-based temporary work visas later this year, with the aim to implement this for an “expanded pool of H1-B and L visa holders” next year. In July, Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi introduced a bill to increase the cap on the H-1B work visas, doubling it from the current 65,000 to 130,000 annually. When Donald Trump attacked H1-B visas Donald Trump also took a hard stance towards the H1-B visa programme during his 2016 presidential campaign. To limit immigration, his administration had temporarily suspended the H-1B visas and other types of foreign work visas in 2020. With inputs from agencies