Vijay Mane, 39, Venkataramana Mannam, 47, and Fernando Silva, 53, from New Jersey while Sateesh Vemuri, 52, from California were each charged by complaint with one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud, the Department of Justice said on Tuesday

Four Indian-American executives from two IT staffing companies have been arrested on the charges of fraudulently using the H-1B visa program to gain an unfair advantage over their competitors, a US attorney has said. The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.

Vijay Mane, 39, Venkataramana Mannam, 47, and Fernando Silva, 53, from New Jersey while Sateesh Vemuri, 52, from California were each charged by complaint with one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud, the Department of Justice said on Tuesday. Vemuri made his initial appearance on July 1 before the US Magistrate Judge Steven C Mannion in Newark federal court while Mannam and Silva appeared before the US Magistrate Judge Leda Dunn Wettre in Newark federal court on June 25. Mane appeared before Judge Wettre on June 27.

All were released on a USD 250,000 bond, the Department of Justice said. The conspiracy charge carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a USD 250,000 fine. According to the Department of Justice, Mane, Mannam, and Vemuri controlled two IT staffing companies-- Procure Professionals Inc and Krypto IT Solutions Inc-- located in Middlesex County, New Jersey. Similarly, Silva and Mannam also controlled another New Jersey staffing company, referred to in the complaint as Client A. They used Procure and Krypto to recruit foreign nationals and sponsor them for H-1B visas, which allow recipients to live and work temporarily in the US in positions requiring specialized skills.

To expedite their visa applications, the defendants caused Procure and Krypto to file H-1B applications falsely asserting that the foreign worker/beneficiaries had already secured positions at Client A, when, in reality, no such positions existed, federal prosecutors alleged. Instead, they used these fraudulent applications to build a bench of job candidates already admitted to the United States, who could then be hired out immediately to client companies without the need to wait through the visa application process, giving the defendants an advantage over their competitors in the staffing industry.





READ MORE:

US President Donald Trump decided to end Trade Privileges for India on June 5th this year on grounds that no assurance was given by the tricolor nation on providing equitable and reasonable access to its markets.

The Generalised System of Preference (GSP) is the largest US Trade Preference Programme which is designed to ensure economic development by permitting the duty-free entry of various products from beneficiary countries. India was the biggest beneficiary of US Preferential Trade Programme in 2017 with $5.7 billion worth products attaining duty-free. But now, Trump is in no mood to allow India to be a beneficiary.

On March 4th, The US President hinted about his decision to end India's designation as a beneficiary developing nation under the GSP Programme. 60-days notice period ends on June 3rd.

As per GSP Programme, Around 2,000 products including can attain duty-free status while entering the US if the beneficiary developing countries meet the guidelines.


Narendra Modi received a huge shock from Trump soon after he was sworn in as the Prime Minister of India for a second consecutive term. Indian Government found the decision of Trump very unfortunate but it is confident of strengthening the ties between the two nations.




READ MORE:

Telugu Student Drowns In Boston Beach

A 27 years old Telugu student died as he accidentally drowned in a beach at Boston, USA. The victim is identified as Shravan Kumar Reddy who hails from Bellampalli of Mancherial district.

This incident happened while Shravan along with his friends were celebrating Easter alongside the beach on April 20. Efforts are being made to trace Shravan's body. The officials suspect that Shravan doesn't know how to swim, yet he entered the water.

About Shravan Reddy's family details, he is the eldest son of Reddy Rajaram, an SCCL employee in Bellampalli. Shravan flew to the US in the year 2014 to pursue higher studies. He is said to be doing an MBA and had plans to return to India to set up a business.

Family members of Shravan are informed about this incident and they are devastated. Shravan friends are in talks with the Indian Embassy to ship the body to India.




READ MORE:

Around 30 Students came back to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh from United States. None of these students were either detained or received notices in connection with the 'pay-to-stay- visa fraud.

90 percent of the 600 Foreign Students enrolled with University of Farmington set up by US Immigration-wing are Indians. As many as 129 Telugu Students were detained for enrolling to a fake university for overstaying in the US. Immigration Officials arrested 8 recruiters, who are all Indians.

AP Non-Resident Telugu (APNRT) Chief Coordinator Buchiram Kalapatapu told Students who enrolled to other Universities needn't worry. 'Students who were detained has already completed Masters. They have enrolled to the University of Farmington under Optional Practical Training (OPT) as it guaranteed one-year work permit with low fee and no classes. Those who returned to India will find suitable job opportunities as they hols Masters degree,' he assured.

APNRT Society President Ravikumar Vemuru told the maximum punishment detained students could face is deportation as there was no clear intention to cheat the US Government.

Each Student paid $20,000 to $25,000 to enrol in the fake university. They have done so to stay in the US to find a job and repay the bank loans borrowed for higher studies.



READ MORE:

The Trump Administration continues to make changes to the H-1B Visa policy to ensure IT Companies prefer hiring more US Nationals than foreign workers.

 
As per the proposed Merit-based rule, IT Companies seeking H-1B Visas will have to register their petitions electronically with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) within the designated period. USCIS can reverse the order under which it approves the Visa Petitions as per H-1B cap & the advanced degree category.

This move is intended to allot the Non-Immigration Visa only for the most skilled and highest paid foreign workers. Which means, Foreign Workers holders Master's or Higher Degree from a US Institution will have high chances of getting selected for H-1B cap.

Earlier, Visas offered under Advanced Degree Exemption used to be selected prior to the H-1B Cap. Under the new rule, Selection of the professionals required for H-1B Cap happens first. USCIS will move to selection under Advanced Degree Exemption after H-1B Cap.
 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will accept the public reactions on the proposed new rule from December 3rd. It will be published in the Federal Register on or before January 2nd.

Proposed new rule increases the chances of Master's or Higher Degree from a US Institution by 16 percent (5,340 Workers).


Source

US President Donald Trump is unable to participate as Chief Guest of India's Republic Day celebrations next year due to scheduling constraints, the White House has said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had invited President Trump for a bilateral visit to India during their talks in Washington last year.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders had, in July, said that Trump has received an invitation to visit India, but no decision has been taken yet.

"President Trump was honored by Prime Minister Modi's invitation for him to be Chief Guest of India's Republic Day on January 26, 2019, but is unable to participate due to scheduling constraints," a White House spokesperson told PTI on Monday when asked about Trump's decision on Modi's invitation.

It is said that the annual State of the Union (SOTU) address to both Houses of the US Congress by Trump is likely to be around the time India will celebrate its Republic Day. The SOTU is normally delivered in the last week of January or first week of February.

The spokesperson said that the US President and Modi enjoy a strong personal rapport and Trump is committed to deepening the India-US relationship.

"The President enjoys a strong personal rapport with Prime Minister Modi developed through two meetings and several phone calls and remains committed to deepening the US-India strategic partnership," the spokesperson said.

"The President very much looks forward to meeting Prime Minister Modi again at the earliest opportunity," the White House spokesperson said.

Modi and Trump are scheduled to attend the G-20 Summit in Argentina on November 30 and December 1. It is possible that the two leaders might meet and discuss bilateral relationship there.

Every year, India invites world leaders to attend its Republic Day celebrations.

In 2015, the then US president Barack Obama had attended it as the chief guest which was his second visit to India as the American president.

This year, leaders from 10 ASEAN countries had attended the Republic Day celebrations.

In 2016, the then French president Francois Hollande was the chief guest of the parade while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was the chief guest at the celebrations in 2014.

The heads of state and government who have attended the Republic Day celebrations include Nicolas Sarkozy, Vladimir Putin, Nelson Mandela, John Major, Mohammed Khatami and Jacques Chirac.


SOURCE:

The Trump administration is gearing up to propose new laws in order to benefit US workers. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) would propose new laws by Jan 2019. And the main target is to revise, redefine the 'specialty occupation' under H-1B. As per the reports, the US is likely to make necessary changes only to allow/permit the "best and most-efficient" foreign nationals to come to the US and work.

The new changes are also expected to revise employment and the relations between employee and employer, in order to bring more focus on US workers and benefiting them in wages and providing "job security" i.e "protecting US workers".

This is not all. The new law would also lay down certain guidelines to firms about the payment to H-1B visa workers to ensure they are compensated "appropriately and adequately". This proposal is under the Unified Fall Agenda of the Trump administration. This is expected to directly affect Indian tech giants in the US, besides the contract-based IT companies, most of them are owned by Indian Americans.

The Department of Homeland Security's announcement comes days after Trump said that he wanted only "high-skilled" people to enter the US and repeatedly said only "merit" should be the key factor.

In Trump's Own Words: 

"I'm very tough at the borders. We've been very tough at the borders. People have to come into our country legally, not illegally. Legally. And I want them to come in on merit," Trump had said during a press conference at the White House.

"What I want is merit. I want a lot of people to come in. We have great car companies entering our country again. This hasn't happened for 35 years. We have companies like Foxconn going to Wisconsin with a massive, massive plant," Trump added.

"We need people coming in, but we want them to come in on merit. We want people that are going to help us. It's very important," he concluded.



SOURCE: