After US, Singapore Tightens Work Visa Rules for Indian Techies

New Delhi: After the United States, Indian techies are now finding it difficult to procure visas to work in Singapore, following which the government has put on hold the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), the Times of India reported on Monday.

Indian companies have reportedly been advised to hire locally, promoting the firms to mull a move to other countries in the region, the report said.

"This (visa problem) has been lingering for a while but since early-2016, visas are down to a trickle. All Indian companies have received communication on fair consideration, which basically means hiring local people," Nasscom president R Chandrashekhar told Times of India.

India is currently engaged with the Donald Trump administration in the US as well as members of the US Congress on concerns regarding the H-1B visa issue.

Trump’s executive order not only strangulates H-1B and L1 visas, but also increases inspector raj and ends employment authorisation cards to spouses on such work visas, which was recently introduced by the previous Obama Administration.

The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa that allows American firms to employ foreign workers in occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. It is highly popular among Indian techies and the technology companies depend on the programme to hire tens of thousands of employees each year.