The US government’s new move towards development of education has given thousand of Indian students, a reason to rejoice.
The proposal came in wake of native-born US workers fuming about being displaced by guest workers from India at Disneyland. Following the fracas and in support of them, tens of thousands of international students from India will now be allowed to stay in the US for upto six years after they complete their graduation.
The new regulations proposed by the administration and submitted before the Senate Judiciary Committee states that students with STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math ) degrees will be allowed to operate under the Optional Training Programme, in order to stay post completion of undergraduate degree.
The US Labor Department was persuaded by the anti-outsourcing department to run an investigation into two India-based firms: Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to check whether the rules for visas for foreign technology had been violated.
While the anti-outsourcing department was trying to bring down the number of international workers from India, the team at Disneyworld is said to have laid off hundreds of US tech workers after they were forced to train workers from India under the H1-B visa program for guest workers.
The government has also put forward a proposal to retain more of the high-skilled labour force in the country where there are not enough workers under the STEM category. This would give them as much work time in the US as foreign guest workers get under the H1-B program.
In the present scenario, international students use the OPT time frame to land themselves internship or jobs during which they are sponsored for an H 1-B visa if they perform well. Though, many students are forced to go back to their native countries due to an increasing demand for H 1-B visas, much to the dismay of free-traders who believe the US is best served when the students it educates are retained in the country.
The new proposal will therefore expand the opportunities to get a job and an H 1-B visa, too. Adding another feature to the proposal, the government also wants to grant work permits to H-4 visa holders (spouses of H1-B) who meet certain eligibility requirements.
