‘Does not advance shared ambitions’: MEA on US suspending IT firms from green card programme

India on Friday said that the United States’ decision to suspend several information technology companies from the permanent labour certification programme goes against advancing the shared ambitions of the two countries.

Permanent labour certification is a process that employers must complete before filing petitions for most employment-based green cards. Under the programme, employers must establish that there are no qualified, willing and available US workers for a particular job.

Cognizant, Capgemini, Microsoft, Adobe and India-based information technology companies Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and HCL are expected to be affected by the Donald Trump administration’s decision.

The Indian external affairs ministry said that the permanent labour certification programme is different from the H-1B visa programme, which allows companies in the US to temporarily employ foreign workers for special occupations.

The suspension of permanent labour certification applications does not affect the validity of existing H-1B visas or the persons who hold the visa and their dependents, it said.

However, it said that there could be “some impact” on the Green Card process of eligible employees of the affected companies. A green card allows a foreign citizen to live and work permanently in the US.

Over the past few years, Indians have constituted the majority of H-1B visa holders. Indians comprised 71% of all H-1B visas issued by the...

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