India files complaint against Washington in WTO against US Visa rules
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NEW DELHI: India has filed a complaint to WTO against US for increasing fee on temporary work visas in some categories.
India raised serious concerns over the issue and claimed that Indians received unfair treatment as compared to American workers in technical sector.
India claimed that the measures taken by US appear to be inconsistent with global norms.
“India notified the WTO Secretariat on 3rd March that it has initiated a WTO dispute proceeding against the US regarding measures imposing increased fees on certain applicants for L-1 and H-1B categories of non-immigrant temporary working visas into the US, and measures relating to numerical commitments for H-1B visas,” WTO said in a statement.
US trade representative spokesperson Andrew Bates claimed that we have received a request for consultation but India’s move is unusual.
He said “We are confident that the United States’ visa programme, which was recently updated on a bipartisan basis by Congress, is fully consistent with our WTO obligations.”
The first step of settling a dispute at WTO is the request of consultation which provides a chance to the parties to discuss the matter and find an effective solution.
If the consultations fail then WTO will establish a panel of experts to study the dispute and provide a solution.
