India asks WTO for higher H-1B quota

Date: Wednesday, October 15, 2003 1:39 AM

JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

www.ZaZona.com

In order to understand why India has a good case to raise the H-1B
yearly quota, it is necessary to understand that the United States
agreed to give up some of it's right to self-determination when it
signed the GATS agreement.

To further the interests of the free movement of labor, the World Trade
Organization (WTO) authored the General Agreement on Trade and Services
(or GATS) and the U.S. agreed to abide by it. GATS contains two
components necessary for globalization to occur - the first is trade,
which is defined as the commodities and products that move across
national boundaries without tariffs, and the second are the services
provided by labor. The GATS agreement regards humans as a commodity
that shall be moved across national boundaries wherever it is needed by
employers to reduce cost or to be more competitive in world markets.

In 1995 the GATS agreement borrowed a WTO term that describes the
process of moving human capitol across international borders. This
process is called the "Movement of Natural Persons," which refers to
the entry and temporary stay of human laborers for the purpose of
providing "services" for employers. Immigration policies restricting
the flow of "natural persons" would be considered a violation of the
WTO rules because international borders must be kept open for the
movement of international labor.

Since the 65,000 per year limit on H-1Bs is a restriction of the
movement of "natural persons", the United States seems to be in
violation of the GATS agreement. Article 15 of GATS states that in the
event of a disagreement, the WTO will set up a world tribunal to
adjudicate the dispute. Since our government has agreed to GATS, and
most of our politicians adhere to it's philosophy of a "new world
order" of free-trade, India stands a very good chance of winning a
decision by the tribunal if the U.S. insists on keeping the H-1B limit
at its present level.

If India takes their complaint to the WTO, the U.S. will have have only
one choice - capitulation. The WTO typically gives priority to the
profit maximization of multi-national corporations and they don't think
the concerns of U.S. workers should impede globalization. Open-border
immigration is viewed as essential to free-trade and globalization and
the WTO will enforce the mandates that our country agreed to.

http://www.business-standard.com/today/story.asp?Menu=19&story=25096

Intelligent Information

India seeks higher H-1B quota

Govt move aimed at containing fallout of US decision to issue fewer
H-1B visas

Bipin Chandran, Sidhartha in New Delhi
Published : October 15, 2003

The US decision to lower the number of H-1B visas from 195,000 to
65,000 a year, has prompted the Indian government to seek a higher
quota of such visas for the country.

While a delegation of the ministry of information technology, which is
in the US at present, is expected to take up the issue with its
American counterpart, the commerce ministry is pushing for higher
quotas at the World Trade Organisations services negotiations,
currently underway in Geneva.

In line with our demand for greater movement of natural persons under
the services negotiations, we will seek a more flexible visa regime, an
official said.

Under the General Agreement on Trade in Services, the US had committed
to issue 65,000 H-1B (temporary skilled worker) visas a year.

Commerce ministry officials said the recent US decision to reduce the
number of H-1B visas could not be challenged as Washington had earlier
unilaterally increased the number of such visas to over 195,000 a year.

India has been using a bulk of the H-1B visas issued by the US in the
last few years. For instance, of the 195,000 H-1B visas issued in 2001,
77,000 were issued to Indians.

India has a quota of 80,000 H-1B visas. The number, however, decreased
to 33,000 in 2002 and it is expected to come down further to 30,000
this year.

The National Association of Software and Service Companies had earlier
said the Indian software sector preferred an easing of the cap on H-1B
visas to a more realistic level of 120,000.

The limits should be more realistic. It should neither be so high that
the visas remain unused, nor so less that the companies are unable to
send people on projects, a Nasscom official said.

The US is the biggest market for Indias software exports, accounting
for 71 per cent of the countrys total software exports.

The Indian software industry is of the opinion that a reduction in the
number of H-1B visas can hurt its interests, with small and medium
companies facing the brunt of the curbs.

Support this Newsletter and ZaZona.com by donating:
www.zazona.com/Donations.htm

To Subscribe or Unsubscribe send an email to

Back to archives