Vivek Ramaswamy wants to end H-1B visa programme, calls it 'indentured servitude'

Indian-American presidential aspirant Vivek Ramaswamy vows to “gut” the lottery-based H-1B visa system and replace it with meritocratic admission. He has used the visa programme 29 times and his former company has approved 29 applications for H-1B visas. Ramaswamy believes the system is “bad for everyone involved” and is a form of “indentured servitude”. He also wants to eliminate chain-based migration. Trump has temporarily suspended new work visas and blocked foreign workers from US employment. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi has proposed to double the annual intake of H-1B visas.

Calling the H-1B visa programme "indentured servitude", Indian-American Republican presidential aspirant Vivek Ramaswamy has vowed to “gut” the lottery-based system and replace it with meritocratic admission if he wins the race to the White House in 2024.

The H-1B visa, the much-sought-after among Indian IT professionals, is a non-immigrant visa that allows U.S. companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.

Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

Mr. Ramaswamy himself has used the visa programme 29 times.

From 2018 through 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services approved 29 applications for Ramaswamy’s former company, Roivant Sciences, to hire employees under H-1B visas.

Yet, the H-1B system is “bad for everyone involved,” Mr. Ramaswamy was quoted as saying by Politico.

“The lottery system needs to be replaced by actual meritocratic admission. It’s a form of indentured servitude that only accrues to the benefit of the company that sponsored an H-1B immigrant. I’ll gut it,” he said in a statement, adding that the U.S. needs to eliminate chain-based migration.