Half of H-1B visa-holders from India

Nearly half of H-1B visa holders in the US are from India, an official report states. Most of these visaholders are hired for technology-related positions. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said that between 2000 and 2009, 46.9% of the approved H-1B visa holders had India as their country of birth. “Between fiscal year 2000 and fiscal year 2009, the majority of approved H-1B workers (initial and extensions for both employers subject to the cap and cap-exempt employers) were born in Asia,” said the report. “Over the last decade, the top four countries of birth for approved H-1B workers were India, China, Canada and the Philippines. Across all 10 years, about 64% of approved H-1B workers were born in these countries, with the largest group from India,” it added. Although details on the total H-1B workforce is lacking, data show that since 2000, most people of these visaholders from India or China were hired for technology positions.