P Aridhi Upadhaya had been packing her bags in Lucknow to pursue a computer-science scholarship across the Atlantic. The American degree and the American dream disappeared the moment her parents read the recent H-1B warning issued by President Trump: the new price would be a mind-bending 100,000 dollars, as compared to the insignificant 2000-5000 that companies used to pay. The incessant assaults of immigrants that Trump has launched on us are compelling us to find her elsewhere, her 18-year-old father, Rudar Pratap, told a local reporter.
A thousand three hundred kilometres distant in Dallas, Texas, another Indian student is studying a master’s at a cost of 80,000 US dollars with an unsure future in his eyes. The student said that all he wanted was to complete his degree, get an internship, and recover the money he had spent because he was scared that by revealing his status, he would attract the wrong kind of attention from immigration officers. The man added, “I would go to Canada or Europe, and they would surely welcome us.”
The rhetoric of Trump has given a new life to an old debate: the proponents claim that H-1B visas bring in the talent that American companies need, but the opponents believe that they lower wages and replace American employees. However, the statistics are self-evident: India obtained 71 per cent of the total 2018 H-1B approvals, and China received 11.7 per cent. Satya Nadella, Arvind Krishna, and Sundar Pichai icons joined the country through the same program as students and changed temporary positions into lifelong employment.
Use of the H-1B, which has a normal term of six years with a renewal option, has helped close the divide between U.S. graduate education, Optional Practical Training, and permanent residency. As the cost of Trump gets bigger, more Indian students are reconsidering their plans. Education consultants, lecturers, and their peers are currently referring them to the Express Entry system in Canada, the highly skilled immigration systems in Germany, or the visa systems in Australia-places that are certain to offer them stability and chance without the U.S. roller-coaster approach to immigration policy. With the U.S. visa gate shutting, the generation of young talent is seeking new paths to their worldly aspirations.
Click Here for Chhattisgarh News
Click Here for Entertainment News