Chidambaram voices India's concerns on Immigration Bill to US MPs

The US Immigration Bill proposes additional charges on firms which have more than 30-50% of their workforce on H1-B/L-1 visas

 

Finance Minister P Chidambaram has apprised US lawmakers of India's concern over the immigration bill, calling the proposed legislation a non-tariff barrier.

Chidambaram met members of house of representatives and and US Congress in Washington yesterday and told them that the issue of temporary relocation of knowledge workers has been linked to the larger issue of immigration.

"The restrictions sought to be placed on knowledge workers amount to non-tariff barriers," the Finance Minister was quoted as saying in an official statement here.

The Bill,recently approved by the Senate, proposes a complete overhaul of the US immigration law. It proposes an additional $5,000 per visa as fees for firms with 30-50% of their workforce on H1-B/L-1 visas and an additional $10,000 per visa for firms with over half of their employees on such visas. The H1-B/L1 documents are non-immigrant visas that allow US employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations.

The US side comprised Co-Chair of House & India Caucus Congressman Joe Crowley from New York, Congressman Sandy Levin from Michigan, Congressman Erik Paulsen from Minnesota, Congressman John Larson from Connecticut and Congressman Ami Bera from California.

The Finance Minister reiterated that there is close cooperation between the two countries in areas such as security and defence and the civil nuclear agreement between the two countries was a path breaking landmark.

He also explained that Indian law affirms intellectual property rights (IPRs) and the process of granting compulsory license and patent registration are WTO compliant and subject to judicial review.

The Finance Minister also emphasized the importance of India becoming a manufacturing hub for meeting its own domestic needs and for re-balancing the global economy.

The Members of Congress spoke of their deep interest in promoting India-US relations and advancing mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries.

The Finance Minister also held discussions with Senator Mark Warner of Virginia and Senator John Cornyn of Texas, Co-Chairs of the Senate India Caucus.

Representatives of Wal-Mart, which made a major change in its top ranks in India, also called on the Finance Minister.