Washington: With nearly three-fourths of the H-1B visas given by the US to specialty foreign workers in 2021 secured, Indians maintained their stronghold on the highly sought-after professional ticket to work, live, and, eventually, settle in America.

According to the most recent Department of Homeland Security data, the US accepted 407,071 H-1B petitions in 2021, with 301,616 of them, or 74.1 percent of the total, going to Indian labourers.

According to a recent study by the US government’s body that controls immigration, Indians accounted for 74.9 percent of accepted petitions in 2020.

What Exactly Is an H-1B Visa?

The United States authorises American firms to hire specialised foreign workers on H-1B visas for occupations that cannot be filled by local Americans. Top American corporations including as Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Facebook, as well as US subsidiaries of Indian IT firms such as Infosys, TCS, and Wipro, are among the most active users of this visa programme.

These foreign workers are hired either from their countries of birth or residence, or from US colleges and universities. For example, Sundar Pichai, the Google CEO, was hired on H-1B while studying in the United States. They can stay and work here for three years, with the possibility of extending their stay for another three years if accepted. Many of them go on to obtain Green Cards, which allow them to live permanently in the United States and are sponsored by their companies.

Indians have maintained a stranglehold on the H-1B visa programme for years, accounting for three-fourths of all applications. People from China came in second place, with 12.1%. Canada came in third with 0.9%, South Korea came in second with 0.9%, and the Philippines came in third with 0.7%. In 2020, the lineup remained the same, with nearly the same numbers.