Exciting news for Indian technology professionals residing in the United States - there are plans to start a domestic pilot program to renew select types of H-1B visas. Said to launch in December, this move is one that stands to benefit millions of Indian tech professionals already living and working in the US, as explained by an American government official. 

It's been a few months since the White House first made the announcement of this plan during the visit of the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, back in June. 

“In India, the demand (for US visas) is still very high. The wait time of six, eight and 12 months is not what we need and (it is) not indicative of how we view India." Julie Stufft, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services, remarked during an interview with news agency PTI. "We want to make sure that Indian travellers can get appointments as quickly as possible. One way we are doing that is through the domestic visa renewal program, which is focused very much on India. We are piloting that,"”

From December onwards, over a span of three months, the State Department will be issuing 20,000 visas to foreign nationals currently residing in the country. The Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services also added: "We will do 20,000 in the first group. The vast majority of those will be Indian nationals living in the US and we will expand as it goes on." 

She further clarified the program's primary objective, "Because Indians are the largest skilled group of workers in the United States, we hope that India will benefit quite a bit from this program. It will prevent people from having to travel back to India or anywhere for a visa appointment to get their visa renewed. It will allow our missions in India to concentrate on new applicants." 

Indians residing in the US have warmly welcomed the plan since it was officially announced during Modi's state visit. Ajay Jain Bhutoria, a prominent Indian-American community leader and commissioner to the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, deemed the State Department's move to be "significant". 

“I am happy to see the recommendation I presented on behalf of immigration subcommittees on the Commission for H-1B visa stamping in the USA finally being implemented. This relief will ultimately impact over one million H-1B holders, a significantly large number of whom are Indians."”

Ms. Stufft also outlined that the visa renewal program is geared towards work visas solely. She described it as a "huge undertaking" that the Department is very excited about and promised that the program will be expanded to include more categories of workers living in the United States in the remainder of 2024. 

This move signifies an attempt to create a more inclusive society, by alleviating some of the hardships faced by legal immigrants. 

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