Over 21 lakh Indians applied for H-1B visas in 11 years

According to the report, since 2007 till June this year, the USCIS received 3.4 million H-1B visas applications, of which people from India accounted for 21 lakh. During the same period, the US issued H-1B visas to 26 lakh people, the USCIS said in its report, which however does not give countrywide breakdown. In terms of the number of H-1B applications between 2007 and 2017, India is followed by a distant China with 2,96,313 H-1B applications, Philippines (85,918), South Korea (77,359), and Canada (68,228). 

The report said the majority (23 lakh) of the beneficiaries of H-1B visas were in the age group of 25-34, and 20 lakh came from the computer related occupation category. Computer was followed by architecture, engineering, and surveying (318,670), education (244,000), administrative specialisations (245,000), and medicine and health (185,000).

Sometimes people post their retirement age have been given H-1B visas. In all these 11 years, more than 2,000 foreign nationals of more than 65 years of age received H-1B visas. This year alone so far 122 H-1B visas have been allocated to those above 65 years. 

The report said custom computer programming services industry received the maximum number of 9,99,901 H-1B visas in these years. It was followed by computer systems design services (2,87,000) and college universities and professional schools (2,29,00).

Contrary to the general perception, the average salary of H-1B visas have increased significantly since 2007 when it was $68,159. In 2017, the average salary of H-1B visas holder foreign guest worker is $92,317. The USCIS’s report was first reported by Breitbart news. “The USCIS date shows that between 2007 and 2017, the H-1B visa, which imports foreign workers to take American jobs, the programme has grown exponentially. The vast majority of visa-holders are from India,” Breitbart said, adding that roughly 70 to 80 per cent of the foreign workers imported every year are from India.