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Vivek Ramaswamy wants to end H1B visa programme
Indian-American Republican hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy is not a fan of the H1B visa that is highly sought after among Indian IT professionals.
New Delhi: Indian-American Republican hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy is not a fan of the H1B visa that is highly sought after among Indian IT professionals.
In fact, Ramaswamy, who has used the visa programme as many as 29 times himself, described it as "indentured servitude", vowing to "gut" it if he is elected to the White House. The H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. It is the most popular route opted by skilled Indian IT professional to work and live in US.
Interestingly, from 2018 to 2023, US Citizenship and Immigration Services approved 29 applications for Ramaswamy's former company, Roivant Sciences, to hire employees under H1B visas. Yet, the H1B system is "bad for everyone involved," Ramaswamy was quoted as saying by Politico.
"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 H1B immigrant. I'll gut it," he said in a statement, adding that the US needs to eliminate chain-based migration.
"The people who come as family members are not the meritocratic immigrants who make skills-based contributions to this country." Ramaswamy, who was the chief executive officer of Roivant, stepped down from his role in February 2021.
As of March 31, the company and its subsidiaries had 904 full-time employees, including 825 in the US, PTI reported quoting Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
Ramaswamy, who is himself the child of immigrants, has captured headlines for his restrictionist immigration policy agenda. He also said he would use military force to secure the border, and that he would deport US-born children of undocumented immigrants.
The demand for H1B visa continues to increase in US. For fiscal year 2021, US businesses submitted 780,884 applications for just 85,000 available slots, jumping by more than 60 per cent.
