As US President Donald Trump hiked the fee for a popular skilled worker visa programme (H-1B), Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Saturday that the country would welcome foreign employees who might have worked in the US but are now facing hurdles due to the $100,000 H-1B visa application fee introduced by the Trump administration.
While speaking to reporters in London, Carney said, “What is clear is that the opportunity to attract people who previously would’ve got so-called H-1B visas and I am going to simplify it. One of the big cohorts is in the tech sector.” The Canadian prime minister added he’ll soon bring a proposal on it as he stated that these workers are enterprising and willing to move to Canada.
“Not as many of those people (H-1B visa holders) will get visas to the United States. These people are skilled, and this is an opportunity for Canada…We will soon bring a proposal on this,” Carney added.
Last week, Trump signed an executive order to bring a major change in its visa system and increased the fees for new H-1B visas to $100,000 that led to a confusion and an atmosphere of dismay among the employees and companies that rely on the visa programme in order to bring global talent in technology sector, engineering among other roles to US.
Amid the commotion caused due to the announcement of visa applications fee hike for H-1B, the White House later clarified that the current H-1B holders in the United States won’t be affected. Though the changes brought in by Trump administration are expected to restrict opportunities for highly educated foreigners seeking to work in America.
Other than Canada, there are a couple of other countries who are also reaching out to H-1B visa holders and wooing them to their respective countries.
The list includes the UK, where Prime Minister Keir Starmer led Labour government is reportedly exploring ways to terminate visa fees for global talent. Germany is also looking to take in skilled H-1B visa workers, The Guardian reported.
