To prevent foreigners from getting non-technical jobs, the government has made it clear that citizens of other countries will be taken only for highly-skilled assignments in India and should draw an annual salary of over $25,000.

In an order, the Home Ministry nullified a Labour Ministry circular which allows one per cent foreigners among the total work force in any project with a minimum of five and maximum of 20 people.

"An employment visa is granted to a foreigner if the applicant is a highly skilled and/or qualified professional, who is being engaged or appointed by a company/organisation/ industry/undertaking in India on contract or employment basis," according to the Home Ministry guidelines.

Besides, the ministry made it clear that employment visa shall not be granted for jobs for which qualified Indian are available and also for routine, ordinary or secretarial/ clerical

"The foreign national being sponsored for an employment visa in any sector should draw a salary in excess of $25,000 per annum," it says.

However, this condition of annual floor limit on income will not apply to ethnic cooks, language teachers (other than English), staff working for the Embassy/High Commission concerned in India.

The Labour Ministry had ordered that visa applications could be cleared by the Indian missions abroad at their level if the foreign national is skilled and qualified professional, technical experts, senior executives or in managerial positions and those kinds of skills which are not available in India.