US has no plans to cap H-1B work visa program: State Department
The Trump administration has no plans to cap H-1B work visas for nations that force foreign companies to store data locally, the State Department said on Thursday.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that the United States had told India it was considering restricting the H-1B visa programs for countries with the data storage requirement. The H-1B program issues US visas to skilled foreign workers.
It is “completely separate from our ongoing discussions with India about the importance of ensuring the free flow of data across borders,” the spokeswoman added.
Earlier on Thursday, India said it was in talks with the United States on H-1B visas, but foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar told a news conference: “We have not heard anything officially from the US government” on capping such permits for Indians.
While an administration’s “Buy American Hire American” executive order calls for a broad review of US worker visa programs, including the H-1B program, it was not targeted at a specific country, the spokeswoman said.
Two senior Indian officials told Reuters on Wednesday they had been briefed last week on a US plan to cap the number of H-1B visas given annually to Indians at between 10% and 15% of the total number issued.







