70% of H-1B visas issued to Indians in past 9 months: US official

A senior US official on Thursday sought to allay India's concerns on the H-1B visa programme, which is being "reviewed" by the Trump administration, saying there are no "restrictions" in place.

The official said around 70 per cent of the visas issued under the H-1B category over the past nine months have gone to Indians and that a record 1.2 million visas of Indians were adjudicated by the US last year.

The year-over-year increase in terms of issuance of H-1B visas and L1 visas (work permit) to Indians is six per cent each, the official said.

"The President (Donald Trump) spoke about review. There are no restrictions but it (H-1B) is under review," he said, adding the issue was not on the agenda for the upcoming Indo- US bilateral dialogue on consular relations, but it may come up in the course of the talks.

The issue of the repealing of the Deferred Action for Children Arrival (DACA) programme, which has hit more than 7,000 Indian-Americans, may also figure in the talks scheduled to be held on September 27 in Washington.

Trump had signed an executive order in April for tightening the rules of the H-1B visa programme to stop "visa abuses".
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