If your company is using H-1B visa workers, you may get a surprise from the government. Piece of advice for your manager: It’s voluntary, but the surprise could intimidate. (more…)
24 Jul, 2009, 1617 hrs IST,IANS
SMS NEWS to 58888 for latest updates
NEW DELHI: Microsoft founder Bill Gates said it would be a “big mistake” if the US imposes curbs on the entry of skilled workers from abroad, putting his weight behind “smart people” from countries like India who want to work overseas.
“I can’t make any predictions. Immigration policy could get more difficult. Microsoft as a company is very vocal. It would be a big mistake,” Gates, here for overseeing the philanthropic activities of his foundation, said in an interaction with India Inc. (more…)
Bangalore: Two months after introducing the Durbin-Grassley visa reform bill in India and the U.S., the bill has once again been brought before the U.S. Senate. The bill if legalized will have serious implications for Indian IT companies as well as Indians seeking H-1B visas.
1. Infosys Technologies Limited 4559
2. Wipro Limited 2678
3. Satyam Computer Services Limited 1917
4. Tata Consultancy Services Limited 1539
5. Microsoft Corp 1037
6. Accenture Llp 731
7. Cognizant Tech Solutions Us Corp 467
8. Cisco Systems Inc 422
9. Larsen & Toubro Infotech Limited 403
10. IBM India Private Limited 381
11. Intel Corp 351
12. Ernst & Young Llp 321
13. Patni Americas Inc 296
14. Terra Infotech Inc 281
15. Qualcomm Incorporated 255
16. Mphasis Corporation 251
17. Kpmg Llp 245
18. Prince Georges County Public Schs 239
19. Baltimore City Public Sch System 229
20. Deloitte Consulting Llp 218
21. Goldman Sachs & Co 211
22. Everest Business Solutions Inc 208
23. Verinon Technology Solutions Ltd 208
24. Google Inc 207
25. East Baton Rouge Parish School Sys 205
By Marianne Kolbasuk McGee, InformationWeek, Feb. 18, 2009
The provisions are expected to affect new hires, not existing H-1B visa holders in the United States looking to renew their visas. (more…)
13 Feb 2009, 1558 hrs IST, PTI
WASHINGTON: US federal authorities have claimed to have unearthed a major H-1B visa racket with the arrest of at least 11 persons, most of them suspected to be of Indian origin.
Though the officials did not reveal the citizenship of those arrested, the names released indicated that almost all of them are either Indian or persons of Indian origin.
Vision Systems Group, an IT company headquartered in South Plainfield New Jersey, has been indicted on 10 federal counts including conspiracy and mail fraud charge. Viswa Mandalapu, is its CEO and President, according to the information available on the company’s website.
US Attorney Matthew Whitker alleged that Vision Systems Group, with a branch office in Coon Rapids, Iowa, used fraudulent documents to bring H-1B visa workers into the country, he was addressing a press conference at Des Moines, Iowa.
The Government is seeking the forfeiture of USD 7.4 million in proceeds raised through the alleged offenses. “This is just the tip of the iceberg as far as this investigation goes,” he said.
Besides Vision System Groups, at least five other companies are under investigations because of their alleged visa fraud. Two of them Worldwide Software Services and Sana Systems are based in Iowa.
Source: Economic Times
BANGALORE, India — Leave it to a brainy Indian to come up with the cheapest and surest way to stimulate our economy: immigration.
“All you need to do is grant visas to 2 million Indians, Chinese and Koreans,” said Shekhar Gupta, editor of The Indian Express newspaper. “We will buy up all the subprime homes. We will work 18 hours a day to pay for them. We will immediately improve your savings rate — no Indian bank today has more than 2 percent nonperforming loans, because not paying your mortgage is considered shameful here. And we will start new companies to create our own jobs and jobs for more Americans.” (more…)
“The people whom you’re hiring from India and from, you know, China and from — the top universities, they’re the smart lot, they’re not really substitutes for guys who can’t get jobs,” - Economist Jagdish Bhagwati
By Moira Herbst for BusinessWeek
It’s another attempt at requiring companies to “Buy American”, but in this case, not American iron or steel, but American workers.
The US Senate voted on Feb. 6 to put stricter limits on banks and other recipients of taxpayer money through the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP, that want to hire high-skilled workers from overseas under the H-1B visa program. The Senate approved the measure, introduced by Senators Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Bernie Sanders (Independent-Vermont), by voice vote as an amendment the economic stimulus package President Barack Obama is urging the Senate to pass. (more…)
The layoffs announced by Microsoft drew the attention of a U.S. senator and added a new wrinkle to the H-1B debate: Should foreign guest workers be let go before U.S. residents are?