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India Today
2 days ago
- Business
- India Today
H-1B visa rule change: In-person interviews a must, may hit Indian techies
The US Department of State has scrapped the Interview Waiver Programme, also known as the "Dropbox" facility, effective September 2, which will require most non-immigrant visa applicants, including H-1B, L1, and F1 visas, to attend in-person interviews at US embassies or consulates. The move is expected to have a major impact on Indian tech workers, who make up the largest share of H-1B recipients warn that applicants may face longer waits for visa appointments in India, travel delays, and even the risk of losing their work authorisation if they can't return in time. Visa experts are urging applicants to plan early and keep a close watch on appointment Dropbox facility has been a major convenience for eligible travellers, allowing them to bypass the in-person visa interview by simply submitting their documents at a designated centre. Only a few categories of applicants remain eligible for interview waivers under the updated rules. These include diplomatic and official visa applicants, such as those applying under the A-1, A-2, C-3 (excluding attendants or servants), G-1 to G-4, NATO-1 to NATO-6, and TECRO E-1 visa applicants renewing full-validity B-1, B-2, or B1/B2 visas – or Border Crossing Cards for Mexican nationals – within 12 months of their previous visa's expiration may also qualify, provided they were at least 18 years old at the time their prior visa was TECHIES COULD LOSE WORK PERMITS: EXPERTS WARNEDThese changes are likely to have a significant impact on Silicon Valley, where H-1B visas play a key role in helping companies recruit skilled talent – most of whom are from make up the largest share of H-1B visa holders. In 2022, Indian nationals secured 77% of the 3,20,000 approved H-1B visas, and in fiscal year 2023, this figure remained high at 72.3% of the 3,86,000 visas Hing, a professor of Law and Migration Studies at the University of San Francisco, said the new visa interview requirement might delay processing and will also impact Silicon Valley."This is going to entail a delay in their processing. It can be costly, because [visa holders] may be stuck, for example, in India or China, and they won't be able to get back to work," NBC quoted Bill Hing as noted that the requirement for in-person interviews will present a particular challenge for visa holders whose home countries are far professor added that with the Interview Waiver Program, many visa holders have been able to get their renewal paperwork completed in just a few weeks. But with the requirement for in-person interviews, he expects the approval process to take longer, NBC Duehning, a partner in the BAL immigration law firm's San Francisco office, also said visa interview delays could cost H-1B workers their jobs."We can only anticipate that the wait times at the consulates in India are going to get very, very long," quoted Duehning as saying."If they don't get an appointment in time, they could lose their work authorisation," he Golding, an immigrant law practitioner from San Jose, California, expects a surge of in-person appointments at consulates, as well as delays due to the demand, NBC reported."So, it's really important for people to make those plans ahead of time and make sure their applications are fully complete, so there are no delays once they get in front of an officer," NBC quoted her as per US Citizenship and Immigration Services, California leads the nation with over 61,000 H-1B visa holders. Among the top ten US companies sponsoring these visas are Bay Area giants Meta (ranked 4th), Apple (5th), and Google (6th), according to a report in NBC Bay H-1B annual limit is 65,000, plus a 20,000 exemption for individuals with an advanced degree from a US Ends
West Australian
3 days ago
- Business
- West Australian
Chris Ellison backer L1 Capital sells MinRes stock following share price rebound
A sharp rebound in Mineral Resources' share price has seen the company's top shareholder besides Chris Ellison cash out over the past week to the tune of $71 million. Melbourne-based stock picker L1 Capital started selling down a chunk of its stake in MinRes last week at an average of about $34 per share to reap $70.9m. It also sold approximately $21m worth of MinRes stock across June and July. L1's holding in the lithium and iron ore major has been whittled down from a 9.2 per cent peak in March to currently sit at 7.8 per cent. L1 emerged as a major shareholder in MinRes during October, just days after news of Mr Ellison's tax dodging scandal broke. The investment manager steadily built up a stake over the next few months, making a final push in March by shelling out $58m within the space of a week to boost its stake from 7.6 per cent to 9.2 per cent. During that month, MinRes shares were languishing between $21 and $25. A raft of issues at its pivotal Onslow Iron project, corporate governance concerns, weak lithium prices, and a ballooning pile of debt weighed heavily on the stock price. But the Onslow project is getting back on track and iron ore prices have held up, somewhat easing concerns about balance sheet pressure. Improving lithium sentiment has provided another tailwind. MinRes shares are up 160 per cent since sinking to a five-year nadir in April, but remain down 25 per cent year-on-year. L1 has notably said Mr Ellison, who owns 11.5 per cent of MinRes, should remain as boss of MinRes despite his various transgressions coming to light over the past year.
AU Financial Review
08-07-2025
- Business
- AU Financial Review
L1 Capital, Platinum seal $16.5b merger agreement
The new $16.5 billion ASX-listed investment firm created by the merger of Platinum Asset Management and L1 Capital aims to be Australia's leading listed management player, L1 co-founder Raphael Lamm said, after terms of the tie-up were finalised. The Melbourne-based fund manager, founded in 2007 by Lamm and Mark Landau, struck a deal to combine with Platinum after it bought legendary investor Kerr Neilson's 9.9 per cent stake in May.
Time of India
06-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
3.5% Excise Tax on transfers: What Trump's bill means for global Indians, Poonam Mirchandani decodes
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel President Trump and the Republican Government introduced a new bill 'The One, Big, Beautiful Bill', on May 12th 2025, which was approved by the House of Representatives by a 215-214 vote on May 22nd 2025 and is expected to be placed before the Senate later this the many changes proposed by the Government, one key change is introduction of Excise Tax of 3.5% (originally proposed as 5%) which shall be levied on any remittance amount transferred from United States of America ('Remittance Transfers')This change is applicable for all senders of such Remittance Transfers . The only exception being US Citizens or Nationals, subject to such remittance being undertaken by them through a 'qualified remittance transfer provider'.The Bill introduces parameters for qualified remittance transfer provider, which is an entity who enters into compliance agreement with the government agreeing to verify the status of remitter as citizen or national of US ('verified United States sender')If the sender is an individual, credit shall be available for aforesaid taxes paid subject to the verified United States sender mentioning his/her social security number as well as that of spouse (if sender is married) in return of tax for the taxable yearWhat this means simplistically, is that when any person who does not qualify as a verified United States sender, makes a Remittance Transfer, the remittance transfer provider will deduct a sum of 3.5% on the amount of transfer before completing the interesting part is that the Government has also introduced a secondary liability on the remittance transfer provider if they fail to make such deduction and deposit it with the authorities every quarter, they will be liable to pay the unpaid taxes personallyTherefore, every immigrant including Green card holders, immigrants on visas like H1B, L1, L2 etc. all will be impacted by this Remittance Transfer Excise Tax. In fact, even US Citizens if they don't make remittance through a qualified remittance transfer provider will have to pay this taxWhat the bill does not clarify is the definition of 'sender' for the purpose of this proposed Remittance Transfer excise the anti-conduit rules have been extended to remittance transfers, there is no clear provisions on whether corporates, entities, who hold accounts in US and make Remittance Transfers will have to pay this taxThe proposed Bill also does not clarify on how inter correspondent banking transfers be treated especially for international investors who are not US citizen or resident or Green Card holders or any other category of resident alien, but own investments through US brokers and US industry insiders are of the view that the tax will be only applicable for remitters who are resident in the US at time of transfer, how the qualified remittance transfer provider will distinguish such an international investor will be a key point of will be interesting to see how the law will shape up soon, as Senators work on developing changes to the Bill prior to placing it before the Senate later this month for approvalThe Bill does mention the Effective Date for this new Remittance Transfer Excise Tax as being with respect to transfers made after December 31, 2025. Similarly, tax credits, if available, shall apply to taxable years ending after December 31, 2025 NRIs historically have remitted funds earned in the US either back to India or invest them outside the US. In both scenarios, they will now have to pay 3.5% Remittance Transfer Excise Tax on any amounts which they remit after December 31, 2025This may activate a stream of outflow of money from US accounts by NRIs and other immigrants to their home countries or locations outside US to sidestep trigger of aforesaid anticipate families initiating planning for historical funds prior to the changes being implemented as well as restructuring their present account holdings outside post December 31, 2025 this window gets closed especially for individuals who generate regular income in US, who will have no choice but to pay this taxOn a separate note, the Bill puts at rest a constant debate on the sunset clause for US Estate and Gift Tax Exemption the proposed Bill, the original exemption amount of USD 5,000,000 has been substituted with USD 15,000,000 making it effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, will be a relief for many US Persons who are concerned that the current limits of USD 13.99 million will stand reduced to the original number of USD 5 the introduction of the revised provisions this fear will lay at rest as the government now has proposed scaling up the base limit to USD 15 million with future adjustments for inflationGiven the constantly evolving cross border legal and tax landscape, Indian HNIs and family businesses need to reassess their global financial planning . As cross-border tax regimes tighten, having structured, compliant platforms becomes US will continue to be a desired location for Indians while the UK remains a viable wealth gateway, particularly with recent Free Trade Agreement (FTA) gains, but each jurisdiction now carries unique tax implications that must be managed prudently and in a compliant manner with proper planning and advice.(The author is MD, Wealth Planning & Family Solutions, LGT Wealth India): Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)
Economic Times
06-06-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
3.5% Excise Tax on transfers: What Trump's bill means for global Indians, Poonam Mirchandani decodes
President Trump and the Republican Government introduced a new bill 'The One, Big, Beautiful Bill', on May 12th 2025, which was approved by the House of Representatives by a 215-214 vote on May 22nd 2025 and is expected to be placed before the Senate later this month. ADVERTISEMENT Amongst the many changes proposed by the Government, one key change is introduction of Excise Tax of 3.5% (originally proposed as 5%) which shall be levied on any remittance amount transferred from United States of America ('Remittance Transfers') This change is applicable for all senders of such Remittance Transfers. The only exception being US Citizens or Nationals, subject to such remittance being undertaken by them through a 'qualified remittance transfer provider'. The Bill introduces parameters for qualified remittance transfer provider, which is an entity who enters into compliance agreement with the government agreeing to verify the status of remitter as citizen or national of US ('verified United States sender')If the sender is an individual, credit shall be available for aforesaid taxes paid subject to the verified United States sender mentioning his/her social security number as well as that of spouse (if sender is married) in return of tax for the taxable yearWhat this means simplistically, is that when any person who does not qualify as a verified United States sender, makes a Remittance Transfer, the remittance transfer provider will deduct a sum of 3.5% on the amount of transfer before completing the transaction. ADVERTISEMENT The interesting part is that the Government has also introduced a secondary liability on the remittance transfer provider if they fail to make such deduction and deposit it with the authorities every quarter, they will be liable to pay the unpaid taxes personallyTherefore, every immigrant including Green card holders, immigrants on visas like H1B, L1, L2 etc. all will be impacted by this Remittance Transfer Excise Tax. In fact, even US Citizens if they don't make remittance through a qualified remittance transfer provider will have to pay this tax ADVERTISEMENT What the bill does not clarify is the definition of 'sender' for the purpose of this proposed Remittance Transfer excise tax. Though the anti-conduit rules have been extended to remittance transfers, there is no clear provisions on whether corporates, entities, who hold accounts in US and make Remittance Transfers will have to pay this tax ADVERTISEMENT The proposed Bill also does not clarify on how inter correspondent banking transfers be treated especially for international investors who are not US citizen or resident or Green Card holders or any other category of resident alien, but own investments through US brokers and US banks. Though industry insiders are of the view that the tax will be only applicable for remitters who are resident in the US at time of transfer, how the qualified remittance transfer provider will distinguish such an international investor will be a key point of deliberation. ADVERTISEMENT It will be interesting to see how the law will shape up soon, as Senators work on developing changes to the Bill prior to placing it before the Senate later this month for approvalThe Bill does mention the Effective Date for this new Remittance Transfer Excise Tax as being with respect to transfers made after December 31, 2025. Similarly, tax credits, if available, shall apply to taxable years ending after December 31, 2025 NRIs historically have remitted funds earned in the US either back to India or invest them outside the US. In both scenarios, they will now have to pay 3.5% Remittance Transfer Excise Tax on any amounts which they remit after December 31, 2025 This may activate a stream of outflow of money from US accounts by NRIs and other immigrants to their home countries or locations outside US to sidestep trigger of aforesaid tax. We anticipate families initiating planning for historical funds prior to the changes being implemented as well as restructuring their present account holdings outside US. However, post December 31, 2025 this window gets closed especially for individuals who generate regular income in US, who will have no choice but to pay this taxOn a separate note, the Bill puts at rest a constant debate on the sunset clause for US Estate and Gift Tax Exemption amount. Under the proposed Bill, the original exemption amount of USD 5,000,000 has been substituted with USD 15,000,000 making it effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025. This will be a relief for many US Persons who are concerned that the current limits of USD 13.99 million will stand reduced to the original number of USD 5 million. With the introduction of the revised provisions this fear will lay at rest as the government now has proposed scaling up the base limit to USD 15 million with future adjustments for inflation Given the constantly evolving cross border legal and tax landscape, Indian HNIs and family businesses need to reassess their global financial planning. As cross-border tax regimes tighten, having structured, compliant platforms becomes critical. The US will continue to be a desired location for Indians while the UK remains a viable wealth gateway, particularly with recent Free Trade Agreement (FTA) gains, but each jurisdiction now carries unique tax implications that must be managed prudently and in a compliant manner with proper planning and advice. (The author is MD, Wealth Planning & Family Solutions, LGT Wealth India) (Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)
