Washington: The landmark immigration bill, which offers a path to citizenship for more than 11 million - including over 260,000 Indians - undocumented immigrants and increasing H-1B visas today passed its first legislative test.
The Senate Judiciary Committee on the fifth day of its deliberations that included 300 amendments to the Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill - Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act - passed it by 13-5 votes.
The bill passed through the key Senate committee only after lawmakers reached a deal on H-1B visa expansion plan. The bill (No 744) now goes to the Senate for approval - which is expected to witness another round of negotiations and tough bargaining. It needs 60 votes to pass the 100-seat Senate.
Welcoming the passage of the legislation, US President Barack Obama said that it is largely consistent with the principles of commonsense reform he has proposed and meets the challenge of fixing the broken immigration system....
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12:16 PM, May 22, 2013
Washington: In a "major breakthrough", two influential American Senators on Tuesday reached an agreement on the contentious H-1B visa expansion plan, which Congressional aides said is a compromise between the demand of the tech-industry and the concerns of the labour unions. The deal reached between Democratic Senator Charles Schumer and Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, covers eight amendments sponsored by the latter to make the process for granting H-1B visas more...
11:40 PM, May 21, 2013
Lahore: Pakistani judge Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi probing the murder of Indian death row convict Sarabjit Singh may also visit India to complete the judicial inquiry. Justice Naqvi of the Lahore High Court is investigating the death of Sarabjit who died on May 2 following a brutal assault by prisoners on April 26 within Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore. The one-man inquiry tribunal has appealed to Indian nationals having...
07:23 PM, May 19, 2013
London: Britain has launched a new "super priority" same-day visa service for urgent travellers from India, the first-of-of-its-kind service to be launched by the UK anywhere in the world. The Super Priority Visa Service had been announced by British Prime Minister David Cameron during his visit to the country in February, 2013. The first-of-of-its-kind service to be launched anywhere in the world by the UK Home Office is open for...
06:35 PM, May 14, 2013
Washington: A professional US body of engineers has asked the Senators to reject any move to increase the number of H-1B visas, popular among Indian professionals, arguing that it has a damaging effect on American economy. In a statement issued on Monday, IEEE-USA - the largest American body of professional engineers asked the Senate Judiciary Committee to reject amendments to the comprehensive immigration bill that would increase H-1B temporary visa...
02:54 PM, May 14, 2013
New Delhi: India's pistol shooters competing in the ISSF World Cup in Fort Benning, USA, will be without the services of coach Sayed Wajid Ali as he has been denied visa to travel for the May 4-13 tournament. The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) said the US embassy is yet to give a reason for denying the government core-group coach visa. "He has been denied visa, though we don't...
03:48 PM, May 06, 2013
Washington: US immigration authorities would give preference to better-educated and trained visa-seekers who can contribute to the American economy under a less-noticed provision of the immigration bill in the US Congress. The bi-partisan bill in the US Senate would rewrite the half-century-old standards that control legal immigration to favor skills over family ties. The winners of this proposed "merit-based" system, experts say, would be primarily from Asia, particularly from India,...
01:07 PM, May 05, 2013
Washington: A panel in the United States has asked the government to continue its visa ban on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. The panel said there was significant evidence linking Modi to the violence in Gujarat in 2002. The US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in its annual report has placed India in the Tier 2 Countries on religious freedom along with that of seven other countries Afghanistan, Azerbaijan,...
06:28 AM, May 01, 2013
Washington: The Overseas Citizens of India card holders, while travelling to India, must carry the OCI booklet and their passport having 'U' visa sticker, the Indian Embassy has said. While the OCI card provides its holder a multiple entry, multi-purpose life-long visa for visiting India, in many cases its holders are required to apply for its re-issuance, including re-issuance of new passport for those below 20 and above 50. "For...
09:22 AM, Apr 30, 2013
Sarabjit Singh was brutally assaulted inside Lahore's Kot Lakhpat Jail in Pakistan on Friday. ...
08:12 PM, Apr 27, 2013
Lahore: A day after Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh was brutally assaulted inside Lahore's Kot Lakhpat Jail, his family has been been granted visa to visit him in hospital. Four members of Sarabjit Singh's family have been granted visa by the Pakistan High Commission to meet the Indian prisoner. The Pakistani High Commission in Delhi also said that it will extend all possible help to facilitate their travel to Pakistan. Sarabjit's...
03:13 PM, Apr 27, 2013
London: WikiLeaks has said it has secured a victory in Iceland's Supreme Court against the financial blockade imposed by Visa and MasterCard on donations for the secret-spilling site. Visa and MasterCard were among half a dozen major US financial firms to pull the plug on WikiLeaks following its decision to begin publishing about 250,000 US State Department cables in late 2010. WikiLeaks has claimed that the financial blockade led to...
06:54 AM, Apr 25, 2013
Washington: Amidst Congressional debate on the comprehensive immigration reform, a top US Senator has accused big Indian IT companies - TCS, Infosys and Wipro - of abusing the H-1B visa system. "There are some specific abuses of H-1B," Senator Richard Durbin, said during a Congressional hearing on immigration reform by the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday, during which the lawmakers discussed threadbare the H-1B visa issues. In fact, Senator...
01:32 PM, Apr 23, 2013
Washington: As the US moves forward to reform its immigration system, India has said that a generous American visa policy for the country's high-skilled workers would help everyone and both nations will emerge as winners. "We respectfully urge that they consider the impact of their decisions on the ability of both US and foreign-based companies to expand now and in the future," Indian Ambassador to the US Nirupama Rao wrote...
05:53 PM, Apr 15, 2013
Washington: Observing that nearly 30 per cent of all companies started in the US in 2011 had immigrant founders, Indian IT professionals have appealed to Congressmen to not only consider increasing the H-1B quota but also quick and smooth green card for them. They told the Congressmen that the immigrant-based businesses have generated more than $775 billion in revenue for the American economy. Over the past few days, a large...
10:55 AM, Apr 12, 2013
New Delhi: Days after launching visa-on-arrival facility for senior Pakistani citizens, India has started the process of providing the 'group tourist visa' on a reciprocal basis. The 'group tourist' visa was to be launched from March 15 but it was put on hold after tension along the border following the brutal killing of two Indian soldiers. Besides, Pakistan has so far failed to send a list of authorised tour operators...
12:27 AM, Apr 11, 2013
New Delhi: A day after CNN-IBN highlighted the plight of 400 Pakistani Hindus seeking asylum in New Delhi, there may be some immediate relief in store it seems. Their visas have now been extended for a month by the Indian government. Sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs have indicated to CNN-IBN that the fresh batch of Pakistani Hindus in India will not be deported even though their visas have...
07:09 PM, Apr 10, 2013
Rising extremism in Pakistan is forcing Hindu families to flee the country and seek refuge in India. Their visas have expired, but the refugees are too scared to return. The Ministry of External Affairs has given them an extension of one month, but the question is whether that is enough. ...
11:44 PM, Apr 09, 2013
New Delhi: Rising extremism in Pakistan is forcing Hindu families to flee the country and seek refuge in India. Their visas have expired, but the refugees are too scared to return. The Ministry of External Affairs has given them an extension of one month, but the question is whether that is enough. It's a visa deadline that 20-year-old Jamuna says could turn into a death sentence for her. "I will...
09:05 AM, Apr 09, 2013
Washington: For the first time after 2008, a computerised draw of lots is going to decide on successful H-1B applicants, as a federal US agency has announced that it has received more petitions than the Congressional mandated quota on the most sought after work visas for IT professionals. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on Friday announced that it would no longer accept applications for the H-1B visas for...
12:00 PM, Apr 06, 2013
