India says H-1B visas will help ‘skilled professionals’ following Trump, Musk support

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs stressed the mutual benefits of skilled professional mobility with the US, particularly concerning H-1B visas.

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stressed the mutual advantages of skilled professional mobility between India and the United States, particularly in light of the ongoing debate over H-1B visas.

The US has announced a steep increase in fees for various categories of non-immigrant visas like the H-1B, L-1 and EB-5, the most popular among Indians.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated in a press conference, “India-US economic ties benefit a lot from the technical expertise provided by skilled professionals, with both sides leveraging their strengths and competitive value. We look forward to further deepening India-US economic ties, which are to our mutual benefit.”

The discussion over H-1B visas gained momentum last month after US President-elect Donald Trump, Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy publicly supported the programme.

The Tesla boss vowed to defend H-1B visas, stating he was prepared to go to “war” to protect them. “The number of people who are super talented engineers AND super motivated in the USA is far too low,” he added.

“Yup, I’ve long said the current H-1B system is badly broken & needs to be gutted. It shouldn’t use a lottery, it should be based on pure MERIT. It shouldn’t tether workers to just one corporation. Same principles I favour today,” Ramaswamy voiced on X (formerly Twitter).

Trump echoed his support, despite resistance from the MAGA movement, which favoured prioritizing American workers for tech jobs.

How H-1B helps Indian skilled workers

Introduced in 1990, H-1B visas allow highly skilled foreign professionals to work temporarily in the United States. Each year, 65,000 visas are issued, with an additional 20,000 reserved for those who have earned advanced degrees from US institutions.

Indian nationals are the primary beneficiaries of this programme, accounting for 72.3% of all H-1B visas issued in the 2023 fiscal year, according to data from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Indian IT companies have long utilized the H-1B visa programme to bring top talent to the US, with recipients selected through a lottery system.

Both Musk and Ramaswamy argue that H-1B visas are critical for addressing the US workforce gap in specialized fields. Their stance has gained support from Indian American Democratic lawmakers such as Ro Khanna, Raja Krishnamoorthi, and Shri Thanedar.

The debate intensified after Trump appointed Sriram Krishnan as his senior policy advisor for artificial intelligence (AI), prompting backlash from some who oppose the visa programme.