Cap on salary and number of foreigners in job in India removed

Cos free to hire expats, no cap on salary and number

NEW DELHI: India has changed the rules concerning work visas for foreigners to remove the ceiling on the number of foreigners a company can hire as well as the minimum stipulated salary. Though the new rules are designed to favour skilled workers and have an "Indians first" bias, they should make expats happy who are willing to work here but were hindered by the cap on the number of foreigners who could have been hired, as well as the minimum salary requirement. Indian companies had to limit their foreign recruitments to 1% of their total workforce and pay them annual salaries of $25,000.

TOI had recently reported the case of a Ukrainian national -- Stelmakh Leonid Lulia -- who was refused a visa as she did not fulfill the minimum salary clause, forcing her to challenge the policy in the Bombay High Court. "Since that clause has now been scrapped, any foreigner will not be caught in such a situation in future," said a senior government official. The rules are sure to be welcomed by the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in India who have been allowed to hire, just like a private concern, "skilled" foreigners.

In the old regime, NGOs were not allowed to hire foreigners forcing those who were still willing to work for such organizations to come to India on tourist visa to work as volunteers for a limited period. "Those willing to work for voluntary agencies will be treated at par with other expatriates who can come here for skilled and highly specialized jobs," said a senior home ministry official.

Currently, there are nearly 21,000 foreign employees working in different companies in India. All the new applicants will, however, have to fulfill other conditions to get an employment visa. According to the existing rule, the employment visa is granted to foreigners if he or she is a "skilled" and "qualified professional" or a person who is being engaged or appointed by a company, organization, industry or undertaking in India on contract or employment basis at a senior level/skilled position such as technical expert, senior executive or in a managerial position. The rule says the employment visa is not granted for jobs for which large numbers of qualified Indians are available. Similarly, it is not granted for routine, ordinary or secretarial/clerical jobs.
TNN, Jul 8, 2010, 03.32am IST (Times group)