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The Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Anand Sharma, has raised the problems faced by Indian professionals in obtaining visas with Canada and the US.
In a meeting with the Canadian Minister of International Trade, Mr Edward Fast, Mr Sharma said the hurdles encountered by information technology professionals in obtaining appropriate visas for Canada was limiting bilateral services trade, an official statement said on Saturday.
Revised guidelines
Mr Fast said under the recently revised guidelines, Canada was giving appropriate multiple entry visas if the passports were of 10-year validity.
He flew down to New York to meet Mr Sharma on Friday, the statement said.
Rejection rates up
Earlier, Mr Sharma, during his meeting with the US Trade Representative (USTR), Mr Ron Kirk, on Thursday, drew the latter's attention to the regulatory and process related problems being faced by the Indian IT industry in obtaining H1B and L1 visas.
He referred to the estimates of the Indian industry that the uptake of H1B visa this year has been less than half of the annual prescribed limit, and that the rejection rates have gone up.
Social security
Pointing to the need of the early signing of the India-US Totalisation Agreement, he said different systems of social security should not be an impediment in signing of the pact.
Mr Sharma and Mr Fast also agreed that the issues between India and Canada regarding Foreign Investment Protection Agreement and Social Security Agreement have been resolved, and both pacts could now be signed at an opportune time.
Besides, Mr Sharma raised the issue of constrained supply of potash from Canada to India.
He said that the Canadian Government should view this matter from a strategic perspective and urge the Canadian businesses to enter into long-term agreements with the Indian buyers on commercial terms.
On the extension of the US generalised system of preference (GSP), Mr Sharma expressed satisfaction at the progress made by the US Senate on GSP reauthorisation and hoped for its early resolution by the US Congress.
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