Indians moving to Canada due to outdated H1B visa policy
New Delhi : The talented Indian youth is moving towards Canada, skipping the United States, because of an outdated H1B visa policy, immigration and policy experts have told the US authorities.
The experts have urged the Congress to take immediate steps to ensure talented Indians are not moving to Canada from the United States.
Without Congressional action, the total backlog for all three employment-based categories for Indians would increase from an estimated 9,15,497 individuals currently, to an estimated 21,95,795 individuals by fiscal 2030, executive director of National Foundation for American Policy Stuart Anderson said.
"We should let that number sink in: Within a decade, more than 2 million people will be waiting in line for years or even decades for employment-based green cards," he submitted in his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee-Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship.
He also mentioned that highly talented foreign nationals are chosing to move to Canada over the United States.
"This has happened in response to how difficult it is to work in the United States in H-1B status or gain permanent residence, and the comparative ease of international students and foreign nationals working in temporary status and then acquiring permanent residence in Canada," he said.
At the same time fewer Indian students were coming to America, the number of Indian students attending Canadian universities rose from 76,075 in 2016 to 1,72,625 in 2018, an increase of 127 per cent, according to the Canadian Bureau for International Education, he said.
