This doesn't sound like "moving functions around" to me.
US to set up consulate in Hyderabad by 2008
Friday, November 03, 2006
Hyderabad, Oct 18: The US will set up a consulate here in early 2008 as part of measures to speed up the processing of visa applications, a top American official said on Wednesday.
As of last week, about 40,000 visa applications were pending with US missions across the country and efforts are on to clear them as quickly as possible, US Consul General Peter G Kaestner told reporters here today.
In line with the US Government's plans to expand operations to meet the spiralling demand for visas in India, which accounted for 50 per cent of H1B visas issued last year, a consulate will be set up in Hyderabad in early 2008, he said.
The consulate will process 1.25 lakh to 1.40 lakh visa applications a year, said Kaestner, who was here to inspect facilities at Paigah palace that will temporarily house the consulate.
http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=330162&sid=REGI guess I shouldn't let this concern me, either.
India plans social security pact with US (H1B's-No SS)
November 18, 2006 12:15 IST
Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi said in New York on Friday that New Delhi is trying to negotiate for an agreement with the Bush Administration under which temporary Indian workers in the US would not have to pay social security taxes.
Talking to a small group of Indian journalists Ravi said during the visit of Belgium prime minister Guy Verhofstadt to India earlier this month an agreement, called social security agreement, was signed with Belgian Foreign Minister under which Indians who would work there for less than five years would have the option of paying their social security taxes in India rather than in Belgium.
'We are also negotiating with the United States for a similar kind of agreement,' Ravi said in response to a question. He said such agreements would also be signed with other European Union countries as well following conclusion of negotiations.
For hundreds of thousands of Indian H1B workers in the US, the mandatory payment of social security tax has been an issue since workers who go back to India after six years of temporary employment in the US either voluntarily or due to lack of sponsorship for permanent residency cannot claim the money they had paid from their earnings. For the permanent residents and citizens, social security acts something like a social insurance program at old age.
http://www.rediff.com/money/2006/nov/18india.htmAmerican visas to Indians set to zoom
December 17, 2006
With Indo-US bonhomie at its best, the US is all set to grant entry visas to a record number of Indians in the months to come.
In September and October this year, the first two months of the US fiscal, the US has issued 78 per cent more visas to Indians than in the same two months of last year. In fact, the US consular operations have had to requisition staff from all over the world to cope with the additional work.
Indians have bagged no less than 30 per cent of the visas granted by the US worldwide for skilled temporary workers. Last fiscal, over 127,000 such visas were issued to Indians. And at over 80,000, India has the largest number of foreign students in the US. In fiscal 2006, 24,622 Indian students got a US visa -- a 32 per cent increase over the previous year.
The US issued 358,734 temporary visas in fiscal 2006, up 14 per cent from 313,800 in the previous year. This was in addition over 30,000 immigrant visas. India is now second only to Mexico among all countries for visa demand.
http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&bKeyFlag=BO&autono=268269&chkFlg=on edit: add link
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