'US visa issuance to Indians good indicator of thriving ties'

Jul 16, 2011, 04.38pm IST
WASHINGTON: Though it has hiked fee for H-1B and L1 visas popular among Indian professionals and companies, the US has said it continues to issue these visas to a large number of Indians which is a "good indicator" of the thriving bilateral ties. 

"US visa issuances to Indians are another good indicator of our thriving relationships," said Robert Hormats, under secretary for economic, energy and agricultural affairs, who would travel to New Delhi and Chennai next week along with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to attend the second Indo-US strategic dialogue. 

For the past four years, Indians have received about half of all H-1B visas issued worldwide, and more than 44 per cent of all L1 intra-company transfer visas, he argued. 

"650,000 Indians traveled to the United States in 2010, an 18 per cent increase over the year 2009," he added. 

India has historically been one of the largest sources of international students in the US colleges and universities with over 100,000 students coming here to study last year, Hormats said. 

"We welcome these talented and dynamic students, a source of talent, energy and innovation in our universities and many of them work in the United States after their university years and we welcome the energy and the entrepreneurialism they bring to our private sector as well," he said. 

"Mirroring the Indian enthusiasm for the United States, we would like to see more Americans go to India for tourism, business trips and exchanges. I particularly hope we can exceed the 2,700 Americans who studied in India last year," he said. 

The US-India higher education summit planned for this fall in Washington will bring hundreds of educational institutes together from both of the countries, Hormats said adding that it is aimed at fostering American students' participation in India's educational system and at the growing number of Indians studying in the United States as well. 

"I also hope the diaspora will continue its work in helping to strengthen US-India educational cooperation," he said.