Everywhere Indian engineers are unwanted

[tw00tw00]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/busin...ofessionals/story-204MfYyPUPUPOvlzCEZQdK.html

Visa woes: Singapore blocks visas to Indian IT professionals
These are tough times for Indian IT professionals, after trouble with H-1B visas in the US, Singapore is the latest to join the list of countries not eager to accept them.

The trouble with Singapore visas began in January 2016 with no new visas being issues. The thrust from the city-state has been to hire locally, which Indian IT firms will find difficult to follow. Most of India’s top IT companies from TCS, Infosys, Wipro to Cognizant have offices in Singapore.

“No new visas mean that existing ones will not be renewed and that will make it difficult to maintain existing levels of workfore,” said Nasscom president, R Chandrashekhar. He added that the hire locally diktat from Singapore is not possible to meet, as a workforce with the required level of expertise is not found there.

Sources say that Singapore has imposed several conditions making it difficult for companies to hire resources from India. This is a violation of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), say sources, and has led India to put on hold a review of this trade pact.



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In recent years, many countries have adopted a protectionist outlook while making stringent provisions to reduce foreign professionals from working. Apart from Singapore and US, India is also facing similar visa problems from UK.

“UK is another area where active discussions are going on. You have to remember that the US visa problems are nothing new. There have always been critics and efforts to reduce the number of H-1B visas since the last 3-4 years,” said Chandrashekhar.

The US grants 65,000 H-1B visas annually to foreign workers hired abroad and an additional 20,000 to foreign students enrolled in the country’s colleges and universities. Critics of the programme have argued that it is used by American companies to replace local workers with foreigners on lower wages.

New Delhi, which has argued it is a trade issue and helps American companies remain competitive, has been following these discussions in the Trump administration very closely because Indian companies such as Infosys, TCS and Wipro use the programme widely for their businesses in the US.

 

[tw00tw00]

https://qz.com/962535/australia-is-...y-worker-visa-and-indians-will-lose-out-most/

Australia is scrapping its temporary worker visa, and Indians will lose out most
Written by
Ananya Bhattacharya
For Indians, doors of opportunities outside India are slamming shut.

The UK, Canada, and the US—the three countries that account for the majority of India’s software export revenue—have upped the hurdles for Indians to gain work visas. The island nation of Singapore has reportedly started “shutting the tap” on Indian techies’ visas too. The latest nation to tighten restrictions is Australia.

Australia’s 457 visa, which let employers sponsor skilled foreign talent to work in Australia for up to four years, is being abolished, to be replaced by a new temporary visa. “We’re putting jobs first. We’re putting Australians first,” prime minister Malcolm Turnbull announced in a Facebook video April 18 . “We will no longer allow 457 visas to be passports to jobs that could and should go to Australians.” Last year, the government had said it will cut down on the occupations outsiders can apply for under the visa.

The discontinuation of the 457 visa will likely have an outsized impact on Indian visa holders, who account for a quarter of the intake, according to ABC News. The UK and China account for 19.5% and 5.8%, respectively, of the foreign worker labor market in Australia. (The current 457 visa holders already in Australia—over 90,000 of them—will not be affected.)

New visa program
Turnbull recognizes that companies might need to allow in certain people to bridge a skills gap. To cater to those needs, the new temporary visa will be “specifically designed to recruit the best and the brightest in the national interest,” he said. The new program will have two streams: short term, which lasts two years, and medium-term, which will be awarded to address irreparable skills shortages and last four years. The new visa will likely require applicants to demonstrate previous work experience and higher English language proficiency.

To make sure that locals get a fair shake, Australia will also mandate labor market testing, Turnbull said. The criteria requires employers to first attempt to find an Australian citizen or permanent resident for a job role. They can recruit cross-border talent if a job cannot be filled locally. The government also plans to set up a training fund to better equip local workers for jobs that previously went to foreigners.

Part of the allure of the 457 visa has been the eventual prospect of acquiring citizenship. In a survey, more than 70% of the 457 visa holders said they planned to apply for permanent citizenship. As the visa allocations evolve, immigration might slow, too.

Tensions rise
As Australia has absorbed more Indian immigrants, tensions have risen. In 2009, attacks on Indian students in Melbourne fueled racist allegations. In 2016, a bus driver was set alight in a suspected hate crime. In March this year, a part-time student and part-time taxi driver of Indian-origin accused people of hurling racial slurs at him.

Recently, however, Indians have been less compelled to look beyond India for job opportunities given the country’s fast economic growth and its increased attractiveness for technology investments. Legacy institutes like the Indian Institute of Technology(IIT)-Bombay, and IIT-Madras had become hubs for nurturing talent at home, thanks to more funding and a research-driven approach to tech.

For those keen on working abroad, some countries still welcome Indians with open arms.

 

[phancong]

Oh no.

India IT immigrant face severe restriction on their visa applications in foreign nation for IT job, Indian call center will be shut down globally.

 

[tw00tw00]

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/...requirements-skilled-immigrants/1/933433.html

After US and Australia, now New Zealand toughens visa norms for skilled immigrants
A New Zealand minister announced that it is raising the income thresholds for people to qualify as skilled immigrants in the country. 'We are absolutely committed to the principle of kiwis first,' he said.
AP
New Zealand announced Wednesday that it is introducing tougher requirements for skilled overseas workers as it tries to control immigration numbers that have reached an all-time high.

The changes come a day after Australia said it would scrap a temporary visa for skilled overseas workers and after US President Donald Trump signed an orderhe said should help American workers whose jobs are threatened by skilled immigrants.

New Zealand's Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse said in a speech that the government was unapologetic that industries relying on overseas workers are finding it harder to recruit people from abroad.

"We are absolutely committed to the principle of kiwis first," he said, using an informal term for New Zealanders.

The changes include new income thresholds. To qualify as skilled, immigrants will need to get a job in which they earn at least the median income.

To qualify as highly skilled, they will need to earn at least 150 per cent of the median income. Other changes include a new three-year limit for workers with lower skills.

Woodhouse said the changes would control the number and improve the quality of immigrants.

It is the second time New Zealand has tightened its immigration rules in the past six months and the latest changes come during an election year, when many people have expressed alarm at the immigration rate.

In the year ending in February, net immigration reached a record 71,300 people, equivalent to 1.5 per cent of New Zealand's total population of 4.8 million people.

That's a big swing from five years earlier, when net immigration was negative as more people left the country than arrived.

Part of the turnaround can be attributed to the nation's healthy economy, which is growing at more than 3 percent a year and is attracting back some New Zealanders who had moved abroad.

The largest numbers of new migrants to New Zealand are coming from China, India and the United Kingdom. The South Pacific nation's median annual wage is about 49,000 New Zealand dollars (around Rs 22 lakh).

ALSO WATCH | Visa woes for techies: Donald Trump orders review of H-1B programme

 

[tw00tw00]

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/bu...home-h-1b-visa-applications-fall-2261117.html

Visa woes force Indian IT workers to return home, H-1B visa applications fall

Moneycontrol News

US President Donald Trump Tuesday said US jobs are for Americans and the rest will have to undergo strict review to get work visas in the country.

Trump signed an executive order to call for review of H-1B visa programme and said the "most skilled and highest paid applicants" should get the visas.

"They (visas) should be given to the most skilled and highest-paid applicants, and they should never, ever be used to replace Americans. No one can compete with American workers when they're given a fair and level playing field, which has not happened for decades," Trump said.

US is the not the only country to have tightened its visa rules. Australia, New Zealand and Singapore too are on the list.

On Tuesday, Australia abolished a visa programme that is used by over 95,000 temporary foreign workers including Indians. This has been done to tackle the growing problem of unemployment in the country.

The Australian visa programme – 457 visa – is used to employ skilled foreign workers.

Singapore, on the other hand, is not awarding new visas to foreign workers since January this year. This could spell doom for IT companies as most of them have offices there.

The US visa review is not a cause of concern for Indian IT firms as they already comply with all rules, Nasscom’s president R Chandrasekhar told CNBC-TV18.

In the whole immigration debate, H-1B visa issue is very small, he said. Since Trump coming to power, business trends have not been dramatic, which is another worry.

However, Chandrasekhar believes that India IT story is very much alive contrary to predictions.

While Nasscom is upbeat, general sentiment in the sector is down with many people looking to come back home. A Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu report in the Livemint says the number of Indian in US looking for jobs in India went up by 10-fold between December and March.

In December 2016, nearly 600 Indians in US searched for jobs in India.
This number spiked to 7000 by March 2017, said the report.

Not only this, but applications for H-1B visa fell for the first in five years. Employers filed for 16 percent fewer visas this year as compared to 2016 as Trump administration takes reviews the visa.

According to data by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, employers submitted 199,000 visa applications against 236,000 applications last year.

Most of the big Indian IT companies like Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services– rely heavily on H-1B visas.

Research agency Gartner is expecting the IT services industry to grow at 2.3 percent, a decline of 3.6 percent over last year, owning to the happenings in US. IT spending too is expected to slowdown for 2017 to 1.4 percent from 2.7 percent last year on back of strengthening dollar.

 

[tw00tw00]

https://qz.com/963530/h-1b-its-not-...ndian-techies-are-unwanted-from-east-to-west/

Everywhere Indian engineers are unwanted
Ananya Bhattacharya

Nowhere to go. (Reuters/Steve Marcus)

Donald Trump’s message to bring jobs back to America has been loud and clear, but by no means is it new. With the rise of nationalist sentiment around the world, countries from the west to the east have been making moves to weed out the foreign worker population for years now.

Here’s a look at some of the windows of opportunity that are being shuttered.

The “America first” fever
On April 18, Trump signed an executive order to overhaul America’s H-1B program, which allows foreign employees to work in the US for up to six years.

Trump’s “Buy American, Hire American” directive will force Indian IT firms—the top sponsors of visas from India—to rethink their recruitment models. Industry bigwigs like Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), and Wipro, have been prepping for these restrictive measures for nearly a decade now with the knowledge that ramping up local hiring amidst America’s chronic skills shortagecould prove to be a challenge.

Amid the winds of uncertainty that have been raging since Trump’s elections, many Indians in the US have been looking to return home. This year, for the first time in five years, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) saw a decline in the number of H-1B applicants. Simultaneously, the number of Indians in the US searching for jobs in India has gone up more than 10-fold between December and March, according to an analysis by consulting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, shared exclusively with Mint. In the last month of 2016, approximately 600 US-based Indians were seeking jobs in India. By the end of last month, there were around 7,000.

Clampdown in the UK
The UK is increasingly less hospitable for Indian students and workers alike.

In 2012, the country abolished its post-study work visa that let fresh graduates remain in the country for two years, so all those who did not graduate with a job in hand had to pack their bags and leave. The government also raised the maintenance funds (living expenses) a student needed to have in their bank accounts by 24% in 2015, shutting out some of the internal student population because of the ballooning cost. Between 2014 and 2015, the number of first-year Indians enrolling in UK universities dropped 10% from 11,270 to 10,125.

Indian workers, who hold nearly 60% of the skilled foreign worker visas in the UK, faced similar woes as the country raised the salary threshold for different visas and added new English language requirements. Under the new rules, Tier 2 short-term intra-company transfers—the provision under which Indian tech companies typically take their workers to the UK—would be discontinued. This change went into effect on April 6.

Although British Chancellor Phillip Hammond assured India that efforts to shrink migration of less-skilled labour would not impact India adversely, that did not hold true. At least 30,000 Indian software professionals currently working in the UK will not have their work permits renewed, India’s National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) told The Hindu Business Line.

Singapore’s quiet retreat
The 5.6-million-strong island nation of Singapore has upped the resistance against Indian techies in recent years. In order to make sure that companies have a “Singapore core,” and to address concerns about overpopulation, officials have been “shutting the tap down” on Indian workers, according to Nasscom.

In 2015, Singapore adopted the Fair Consideration Framework to ensure employers are considering Singaporeans for vacancies. It requires, among other things, that an employer with over 25 employees advertise a vacancy for two weeks before applying for an employment pass for an international worker. Singaporean authorities are also reportedly asking Indian tech companies based in the region to carry out labor market testing, which Nasscom says violates the 2005 economic cooperation agreement between the two countries. Other measures to curb foreign worker populations include raising the bar for salaries and English proficiency.

Before these recent efforts, Indian tech companies were awarded between 5,000 and 10,000 work permits each year. Recently, the total population of Indian techies in Singapore has shriveled to under 10,000, NDTV reported. Applications—which typically took two to four weeks to process—have been held up for months, Nasscom said.

Putting Australians first
On April 18, the same day as president Trump’s announcement, Australia abolished its 457 visa, which allowed employers to sponsor skilled foreign talent to work in the country for up to four years. The largest proportion—roughly a quarter—of these visas are held by Indians. This comes a year after the government set limits on which types of occupations that outsiders could apply for under the visa.

“We will no longer allow 457 visas to be passports to jobs that could and should go to Australians,” prime minister Malcolm Turnbull announced in a Facebook video.

Australia is replacing the 457 visa with two new types of temporary visas—one that lasts two years and another that lasts four. The criteria to acquire these visas are getting tougher: applicants will have to demonstrate previous work experience and a high level of English language proficiency. To make sure that locals get a fair shake, Australia will also mandate labor market testing wherein employers must first attempt to find an Australian citizen or permanent resident for a job role, before hiring an international worker.

A survey revealed that more than 70% of the 457 visa holders said they planned to apply (pdf) for permanent citizenship. The 90,000 temporary workers currently in the country won’t be affected. Plans for those who had wished to live and work in Australia in the future, however, have been foiled.

New Zealand shuts the door
A day after Australia’s announcement, its next door neighbor New Zealand also blocked foreign workers in a bid to put Kiwis first.

The overhaul of the visa program aims to alleviate concerns about housing shortages, road congestion, and overcrowding in major cities, the Guardian reported. “It’s important that our immigration settings are attracting the right people, with the right skills, to help fill genuine skill shortages and contribute to our growing economy,” immigration minister Michael Woodhouse said. To qualify as high-skilled labor, workers will have to earn at least 150% of the median income.

The rising nationalism is going to cost Indians deeply. They have consistently been in among the top three sources of migrants to New Zealand over the last decade, coming in first since 2014. Indians are also the second-largest and fastest-growing international student population in New Zealand but with job prospects dimmingdue to visa constraints, the trend might come to a halt.

 

[tw00tw00]

http://www.indiawest.com/news/busin...cle_ceb3ba5a-2541-11e7-a1e4-0bfd5b2f16d5.html

Employment Abroad Gets Tougher for Indians; Australia, New Zealand Creating Challenging Hurdles for Work Visa Applicants
From News Dispatches13 hrs ago
It seems to be getting tougher for Indians seeking employment abroad.

Visa programs in Australia and New Zealand have been scrapped and revised, respectively, in an effort to give local residents priority and to control immigration numbers.

Australia will scrap a temporary visa for skilled overseas workers, the prime minister said April 18, arguing that Australians must be given priority over foreigners for local jobs, the Associated Press reported.

The popular 457 visa, which allows foreigners to live and work in Australia for up to four years, will be replaced with a stricter scheme that requires a criminal background check and includes tougher English language requirements, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said. The list of occupations that qualify for the new visa will be sharply reduced, according to the report.

“We are an immigration nation, but the fact remains: Australian workers must have priority for Australian jobs,” Turnbull said in a Facebook video announcing the change.

The new program will have two streams: short term, which lasts two years, and medium-term, which will be awarded to address irreparable skills shortages and last four years, according to a Quartz India report.

To make sure that locals get a fair shake, Australia will also mandate labor market testing, Turnbull said, according to the Quartz report.

The criteria requires employers to first attempt to find an Australian citizen or permanent resident for a job role. They can recruit cross-border talent if a job cannot be filled locally. The government also plans to set up a training fund to better equip local workers for jobs that previously went to foreigners, Quartz reported.

The decision by Australia came one day before President Donald Trump signed an executive order that will make changes to a visa program that brings high-skilled workers to the U.S. (See India-West report here.) The White House said the current visa program undercuts American workers by bringing in cheaper labor, the AP said.

Australia's 457 visa was created to address shortages of local workers in certain skilled professions. But critics argued that businesses abused it by paying foreigners lower wages than most Australians would accept.

Turnbull said the new visa scheme would ensure that businesses only bring in foreign workers who are crucial to filling shortages of critical skills.

“It is focused relentlessly on the national interest and in ensuring that temporary migration visas are not a passport for foreigners to take up jobs that could and should be filled by Australians,” Turnbull told reporters in the nation's capital, Canberra, the report noted.

The discontinuation of the 457 visa will likely have an outsized impact on Indian visa holders, who account for a quarter of the intake, according to ABC News.

The 95,000 people already in Australia on 457 visas will not be affected by the change.

Members of Australia's far-right political parties, particularly the anti-immigration One Nation party, were fierce critics of the 457 visa, arguing that it was allowing foreign workers to steal jobs from Australians, the AP reported.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson took to Twitter April 18 to claim credit for Turnbull's decision.

“The government will deny their tough talk on immigration and plan to ban 457 visas is because of One Nation but we all know the truth!” Hanson tweeted.

A day following the Australia announcement, New Zealand April 19 said that it is introducing tougher requirements for skilled overseas workers as it tries to control immigration numbers that have reached an all-time high, according to an AP report.

New Zealand's Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse said in a speech that the government was unapologetic that industries relying on overseas workers are finding it harder to recruit people from abroad, it said.

“We are absolutely committed to the principle of kiwis first,” he said, using an informal term for New Zealanders.

The changes include new income thresholds. To qualify as skilled, immigrants will need to get a job in which they earn at least the median income. To qualify as highly skilled, they will need to earn at least 150 percent of the median income. Other changes include a new three-year limit for workers with lower skills, the report said.

Woodhouse said the changes would control the number and improve the quality of immigrants, it added.

PTI adds from New Delhi: Amid concerns over the U.S.’ changed H-1B visa program, India said April 19 it was in touch with the Trump administration and is making a "full assessment" of its impact on Indian professionals.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesman Gopal Baglay said India was also in touch with the Australian government regarding the changes in that country's work visa program.

"The government is in touch with the governments of the United States and Australia on these matters and is also making full assessment of impact of these recent changes, in consultation with all stakeholders," he said.

Baglay also downplayed criticism of the government's foreign policy vis-a-vis job creation, saying the government has facilitated expansion of its workforce through its flagship programs such as 'Make in India' and 'Skill India' as well as by delivering large technological partnerships and enhanced Foreign Direct Investment.

"Insofar as H1-B visas are concerned, the cap has remained at 65,000 since December 2004 when the H1-B Visa Reform Act of 2004 was enacted by the U.S. Congress," he said.

Referring to Australia replacing its popular 457 work visa program with another program, he said senior Australian officials have conveyed to India that "the impact of the changes will be negligible on Indian workers, most of whom fall in high skill category."

(With AP reports)

 

[phancong]

Foreign nation will limit the number of admission for Indian cheap labor as to protect the host nation skill workforce from the Indian cheap labor invasion.

 

[BlackIndian]

Its responsiblity of Indian govt not west to provide employment to its citizens. Indian govt instead of favoring upper castes and north indians should work for every section of the society.

 

[xyxmt]

Isolation eh

 

[third eye]

Isolation eh

Economics..

 

[doe33]

Is this guy a spam?
Visa policy change isn't only for Indians..Stop being obsessed.lol

 

[INDIAISM]

Referring to Australia replacing its popular 457 work visa program with another program, he said senior Australian officials have conveyed to India that "the impact of the changes will be negligible on Indian workers, most of whom fall in high skill category

It looks like OP forgot to read the last Paragraph of the article....

 

[EndangeredSpecies]

Meanwhile Canada is on the verge of introducing a new visa for 'Global Talent Stream'. Essentially a H1B.

This route will go online on 12th of June.

http://www.canadavisa.com/global-talent-stream.html

As far as Australia goes, they give PR quite easily. So those who are serious about pursing jobs in Australia can get PR quite easily through Skilled Immigration Visa.

US has a hoard of visa programs to admit Indians into the country.

It is business as usual for Indian expats.

 

[xyxmt]

Not Isolation but they know we are capable enough to eat their jobs.Pakistan is already isolated beating Bhusan's back..

If you are capable then you can still compete with their capability within the pay scale. I have worked with IT professionals from different countries in my 25 years of carrier in North America, the most capable by far are Russian IT professional..dont even ask me about Indian capability.