In an address to the Indian diaspora at the Ronald Regan Building in Washington on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that Indian professionals will no longer need to leave America for the renewal of their H-1B visas.
“It has now been decided that the H-1B visa renewal can be done in the US itself,” he said.
The Indian Prime Minister also announced that the United States will open new consulates in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad. America’s new consulates will be opened in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad, he said during his address.
The announcement comes after a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden. PM Modi was on a state visit to the US at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden.
The prime minister held bilateral talks with the US president and addressed a joint session of the US Congress.
It may be noted that Indian citizens are by far the most active users of the US H-1B program and made up 73 per cent of the nearly 4,42,000 H-1B workers in fiscal year 2022.
The US embassy in New Delhi is one of the largest US diplomatic missions in the world. The embassy coordinates the activities of four consulates — in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad – ensuring that the US-India relationship is strong throughout the country, according to the information on its website.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday asserted that a new and glorious journey of India-US ties has begun and the world is watching the two great democracies strengthening their bond.
Modi said the full potential of the partnership between the two countries is yet to be realised and that their ties are all about making the world better again in the 21st century, news agency PTI reported.
READ MORE: US To Return Over 100 Antiquities Stolen From India, PM Modi Expresses Gratitude