The United States on Tuesday assured New Delhi that it would look into concerns related to the visa fee hike after India sought a “just and non-discriminatory” solution to the matter.
The United States on Tuesday assured New Delhi that it would look into concerns related to the visa fee hike after India sought a “just and non-discriminatory” solution to the matter.
The US, however, maintained that the visa fee hike was not targeted at Indian professionals, and was part of a policy change across the board.
The second strategic and commercial dialogue between India and the United States was attended by US secretary of state John Kerry and US secretary of commerce Penny Pritzker, as well as Union commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj.
Ms Swaraj, in her opening remarks, said, “The issue of totalisation and recent fee hike for H1B and L1 visa has affected our people-to-people excha-nges, which is a vital source of strength for our relationship. I am sure these issues will be deliberated in depth in the commercial track of our discussion. But, I would urge you to find a just and non-discriminatory solution to these issues.”
“Our citizens are studying, living and earning their livelihood in each other’s countries, like never before. More than a million of our citizens are travelling in both directions every year, many of whom, we hope, will benefit from early implementation of the US Global Entry Programme for Indian nationals,” she added.
However, Ms Pritzker said that Indians were major “beneficiaries”, as about 69 per cent of H1B visas and 30 per cent of all L1 visas were issued to them in 2015. She was responding to a question on visas at a joint press conference by Mr Kerry, Ms Swaraj and Ms Sitha-raman.
“Any changes that have been made towards H1B and L1 visa applications... They are not limited or focused on Indian nationals. They are really across the board change,” she added.
