More than 21 lakh Indians applied for H-1B visa in over a decade

More than 21 lakh Indian technology professionals have applied for H-1B work visas in the last 11 years, an official report has said.The report of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has also refuted the impression that those who applied for the visa were not highly qualified.

On an average, their salary over the last 11 years has been $92,317 and an overwhelming majority of them are masters or bachelor’s degree holder.

According to the report since 2007 till June this year, the USCIS received 3.4 million (34 lakh) H-1B visas applications, of which people from India accounted for 21 lakh. During the same period, the US issued H-1B visas to 26 lakh people, the USCIS said in its report, which however does not give countrywide breakdown.

The report said majority (23 lakh) of the beneficiary of H-1B visas were in the age group of 25-34, and 20 lakh came from the computer related occupation category. Computer was followed by architecture, engineering, and surveying (318,670), education (244,000), administrative specialisations (245,000), and medicine and health (185,000).