TCS, Infosys issue aside, 1 lakh H-1B visas given to Indians last year

BENGALURU: US consul general in India Phillip A Min, while refusing to comment on the fresh probes into some IT firms for possible violations of H-1B visa norms, allayed fears of the process being difficult and said personnel travelling to the US on this visa form the backbone of business relations between the two countries.
"The US labour department has to comment on specific cases.There is a lot of misunderstanding and apprehension over the H-1B visa which is unfounded,” he told TOI in an exclusive interview on Wednesday. He added: "Indians form 66% of H-1B visa holders in the US and the notion that we're not handing out these visas is inaccurate."
Refusing to give any credence to reports about large-scale rejection such visa applications, he said: " All rumours about this process being difficult and having a high rejection rate are false. Our records show that 98% of H-1B visa applicants world over are being issued visas."
Anxious about outage
Answering a question about the problem of the US has been facing world over in the past fortnight, he said: "The issue was first identified on June 9, 2015 and a lot of travel happens in this season. We've been informed the system is back on its feet and the problem will be resolved soon."
He said there has been a problem with connectivity. "The connection with the biometric system which allows officials to incorporate data and process information crashed," he said.
Min said: "We have been sensitive in handling heart-breaking cases. All medical and emergency cases were dealt with on priority and they were given visas," he said.
He added that the US is anxious about outages now. "This is the season when many students travel to the US and a lot of our turnover (official positions) happen in the summer. We're anxious about this problem, but are confident it will be resolved completely soon," he said.
Indian students applying for US visa up 40%
Kasturi Pananjady, who scored 96% in her Class 12 exams, was an ambassador for US universities on Wednesday, as she explained why she chose the education there. Kasturi, who has availed of a full scholarship (based on need, not merit) from Brown University for her under-graduation course, said was convinced that Indian institutes could not offer what she wanted.
Obviously there are many more like her, for Min said that there has been a 40% increase in the number of Indian students applying for a US visa this year. He was interacting with students at the EducationUSA Centre in Frazer Town here.
Without elaborating on what's leading to this increase, he said: "Traditionally, Indians travelled to the US for PG courses, but we're seeing more students willing to take up UG courses there."
He said he did not have data on what percentage of UG students formed the 40% jump. Kasturi, while stating she did not make the cut-off marks in Delhi University, said she would anyway have wanted to go to the US. "I had applied to 11 universities and had offers from a couple of them. Brown's was the best offer, given our financial feasibility and the course on offer," she said.
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