Trump's non-immigrant visa suspension likely to affect Indian skilled professionals: MEA

Seizing the Covid-19 situation worldwide, Donald Trump, who will be facing the elections later this year, once again pitched in "America First" policy by extending the 60-day ban on immigration and non-immigration working visas till the end of 2020.

As per the step, popular working visas H-1B, H-2B, certain categories of H-4, J and L will remain suspended till Dec 31.

Responding on the issues, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said: "We have seen the Proclamation issued by President Trump on June 22 temporarily suspending entry of certain categories of non-immigrant visa-holders & their family members till December 31, 2020."

"This is likely to affect movement of Indian skilled professionals who avail of these non-immigrant visa programmes to work lawfully in the US," he said.

The ban will severely hit the Indian IT sector as they used to remain the biggest beneficiaries of the H-1B visas.

"We are assessing the impact of the order on Indian nationals and industry in consultation with stakeholders," he said.

He said India India-US cooperation on trade and technology is significant.

"People-to-people linkages and trade & economic cooperation, especially in technology and innovation sectors, are an important dimension of the U.S.-India partnership," Srivastava said.

The MEA spokesperson noted that high-skilled Indian professionals bring important skill sets, bridge technological gaps and impart a competitive edge to the US economy.

"They have also been a critical component of the workforce that is at the forefront of providing Covid-19 related assistance in key sectors, including health, information technology and financial services," said he.

"The US has always welcomed talent and we hope our professionals will continue to be welcomed in USA in the future," Srivastava added.