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India to propose global work permit

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India plans to propose that workers' movement in the services sector be monitored by global work permits not covered under the current immigration or tourist visa quotas in the US and EU.

The new global work permit would be issued to the employer, not the employee, and would be related to the work that the workers are expected to do in the host country. Moreover, the employer would guarantee the return of the visa holders back to the country of origin.

The permits would not fall under the US' H-1B or L-1 visa category. If workers want to change their employer, they would have to come back and reapply for the work permit with the new employer in India or the US.

Nasscom's Sunil Mehta said such permits would eliminate the roadblocks that exist in the current system of visas and quotas. Some of the services of global companies in the US and Europe have also supported this method.

Similar work permits are used in some countries in the Middle East, where the local user of the worker's services gets the permit. Most workers going to the US or EU are employed by companies in developed countries and work onsite at the customer's premises.