India's TCS among top 10 firms to get foreign labour certification for H-1B visas
Washington, Oct 23: Tata Consultancy Services is the only Indian company among top 10 firms to get foreign labour certification for the H-1B visas for the fiscal year 2018, according to data from the US Department of Labour.
The H-1B visas are the most sought-after among Indian IT professionals.
The visa programme allows employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in the US on a non-immigrant basis in specialty occupations or as fashion models of distinguished merit and ability.
London-headquartered Earnest and Young, a multinational professional services firm, has emerged as the top employer to have received the certification.
In fact, Ernest and Young with 151,164 H-1B specialist occupation labour certifications accounted for the 12.4 per cent of all foreign labour certification for the H-1B work visas for the fiscal year 2018 ending on September 30, according to the latest annual report released by the Department of Labour early this month.
Ernest and Young is followed by Deloitte Consulting which received 69,869 H-1B specialty occupations labour conditions programme.
Indian-American owned Cognizant Technology Corp comes at number three with 47,732 specialty occupations labour conditions programme, the Department of Labour said in its latest annual report.
Cognizant is followed by HCL America (42,820), K Force Inc (32,996), and Apple (26,833).
India's Tata Consultancy Services or TCS is the only Indian company in top 10 for the year 2018.
According to the Department of Labour in the fiscal year 2018, ending on September 30, TCS had received 20,755 H-1B specialty occupation labour certifications.
Qualcomm Technologies (20,723), Mphasis Corporation (16,671) and Capgemini America (13,517) are the other companies in top 10.
In the 2018 fiscal year the Department of Labour's Office of Foreign Labour Certification processed 654,360 applications for the H-1B specialty occupations labour conditions programme, of which 599,782 were certified, 8,627 were denied and 45,951 were withdrawn.
It received requests for 1,266,614 position of which 1,223,053 were certified.
Among the positions certified, software developers and applications accounted for nearly one-fourth with 285,963 positions being certified.
This was followed by computer systems analyst (176,025), Computer Occupations (120,736), Software developers, system software (67,262), accountants and auditors (54,2410 and computer programmers (53,727).
California with 309,205 certifications topped the list of States for getting maximum H-1B labour certification, followed by Texas (115,484), New York (95,722), New Jersey (65,232), Illinois (56,196), Washington (52,522) and Pennsylvania (51,471).
According to Department of labour, a specialty occupation requires the theoretical and practical application of a body of specialised knowledge and a bachelor's degree or the equivalent in the specific specialty (e.g. sciences, medicine, health care, education, biotechnology, and business specialties, etc.).
Congress has limited the annual number of qualifying foreign workers who may be issued a visa or otherwise be provided the H-1B status to 65,000 with an additional 20,000 under the H-1B advanced degree exemption.
Before applying for the H-1B visas the employer submits a labour condition application to the Department of labour. Companies can proceed with the H-1B petitions, only after they receive such a certification by the Department of labour.
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Yugadi celebrated with fervour in Karnataka; markets bustle, temples see heavy footfall
Bengaluru (PTI): Yugadi, marking the Kannada New Year, was celebrated across Karnataka on Thursday with traditional fervour and gaiety, with people thronging temples and marketplaces to usher in the festival.
Markets across the capital city witnessed heavy rush since early morning, as people purchased flowers, raw mangoes, fruits and other festive essentials.
The iconic KR Market here has been witnessing large crowds for the past two days, with vendors reporting brisk business amid the festive surge.
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The rains for the past two days in Bengaluru could not diminish the festive mood of the city.
The KR Market was the bustling hotspot on Thursday morning.
“There is huge rush of people for the past two days and this morning it peaked,” Manjunath, a flower vendor at the market said, adding that demand for mango leaves and flowers remained high.
Homes were decked up with fresh ‘Toranas’ made of mango leaves, while courtyards were adorned with colourful rangoli designs as part of the celebrations.
Families prepared traditional delicacies and followed customary rituals associated with the festival.
Devotees visited temples in large numbers to offer special prayers and seek blessings for prosperity and well-being in the new year.
“We prayed for health, happiness and a good year ahead,” V Jyothi, who visited the centuries old Vasantha Vallabharaya Swamy Temple in Bengaluru South told PTI.
The festive spirit was visible across the state, with cultural and religious activities adding to the celebratory mood.
