Quick Take | Westside worry

Trump 2.0 has consistently created US visa application processes tougher and costlier.

What happened

Trump 2.0 has consistently created US visa application processes tougher and costlier. Its earlier effort to raise the fee for H-1Bs-work-linked visas of which Indians claim more than two-thirds-was struck down in court a couple of months ago. Earlier this month, the US department of homeland security proposed removing the 60-day grace period given to laid-off H-1B holders. And this week, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services broadened the scope to refuse residency applications from mid-September. Together, it's a timely call to wake up from the American dream. The kind of ingenuity Indian firms have lately shown in diversifying sourcing and selling when faced with massive disruptions like the Ukraine and West Asia wars may now need to be applied to the biggest services market of all.

The bottom line

Taken together, the developments around quick Take point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.