No plans to raise H-1B talks: White House on Modi-Trump meet

Washington: The White House has said that there were no specific plans to raise the contentious H-1B visa issue during US President Donald Trump’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the issue was under review and there have been no changes in the existing policy.

“On the (H-1B) visas issue, there are no plans for that to come up specifically,” a senior administration official told reporters ahead of Modi-Trump meeting at the White House on Monday. But if raised by the Indian side, the Americans are ready for it, the official said.

“But if it’s raised, I would just note that the administration has signed some executive orders related to work and immigration, and President Trump’s executive order on H1-B visas of course directs the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Labour and the Secretary of Homeland Security to propose potential reforms to the H1-B visa program,” the official said.

Read: PM begins 3-nation tour; to get red-carpet welcome, dinner with Trump

“However there have been no immediate changes to visa application or issuance procedures, so we’re not in a position to kind of prejudge what the outcome of the review might be. So there’s really been no changes as such at this point, and no specific changes that target any specific country or sector as of yet,” said the senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.