USA

COVID-19 – Visa Freeze By US Embassy In India And Its Effect On IT Sector

Taking into consideration the growth scale of the novel Coronavirus- COVID-19 outbreak, several nations have issued visa and travel restrictions. Entry restrictions have been issued to international travelers by many governments including the United States of America and India.

The US Embassy in India has started to cancel all visa appointments (non-immigrant visas and immigrant visas) since the 16^th of March 2020.

Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay

COVID-19 Helpline By Indian Consulate in New York

For any clarification or assistance, you can reach the following numbers to reach Consulate General of India, New York

PRAMIT Helpline: +1-347-721-9243 (Voicemail 24×7)
COVID-19 (Direct) Helpline: +1-212-774-0607 (available from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm EST)
Website – https://www.indiainnewyork.gov.in/

Visa Freeze By US Embassy In India – Effect On IT Service Providers In India

Since the US Mission India has stopped issuing the non-immigrant and immigrant visas, the IT services industry in India could be adversely affected. Here is the highlight visa freeze by US embassy in India:

Visa freeze by the US embassy in India will prevent the IT service providers in India from sending their employees to the US on sales and project calls
The US, as well as India, have imposed several restrictions on international travels making it difficult for the organizations in India to send their employees abroad
More than two-thirds of the revenue generated by the IT industry in India depends on the Indian IT employees working in the US
The cancellation of US visa appointments will prevent the Indian employees from joining their companies in the US by the given date
The employers in the US will be forced to seek other measures to fill in those vacant positions
The Coronavirus outbreak has already affected the major industries like travel and tourism and aviation
As a result, the IT firms in India have been expecting a slow growth-rate and trying out ways to deal with it
The H1B visa application process could also be affected
The US had introduced the H-1B application process this year where the employers must register all the prospective applicants for H-1B visa online
Employees are chosen randomly using the method of lottery
The employer can apply only if their employee’s name has been short-listed

Both non-immigrant and immigrant visa appointments will remain canceled until the regular operations of the US Consulate resume. You can reschedule your appointments once the operations of the US Mission India resumes.