Doors open for H1B visa Indian holders in Canada

Canada : At a time when the United States is tightening its rules for H1B visas, Canada has opened doors with the United States, software professionals, mostly Indian making a beeline to the nation.

As per new rules, the US is only offering 85,000 H1B visas for 2019; while the Canada will be offering a permanent residentship to 3,30,000 people in 2019 under Global Skills Strategy. According to a report called ‘Building a Nation of Innovators’ by the Canadian government, 40,833 jobs and 3,625 applications have been approved for high-skilled immigrants as of November 2018. 

A report in economic times quoted StackRaft, a startup that facilitate borderless technology sector recruitment in the US and in Canada. The company said software professionals are opting for Canada due to liberalised visa regime. 

“If someone is moving after working in the US, they are given priority and they get the access faster,” said Vartika Manasvi, founder, Stack-Raft. “In fact, there are many people who are on visa extensions till 2021 and have OPT status (when you do a STEM degree in the US), (but) they still want to move to Canada,” she said, adding nearly one third of the H-1B visa holders moving to Canada are Indians. 

Uncertainty in H1B visas in the US has left software companies with no option than to shift their offices to Canada.