About NOSTOPS

The National Organization for Software and Technology Professionals (NOSTOPS) was founded in India in 2004 with the objective of changing the perception of the Indian knowledge workers that worked overseas, primarily in the United States of America

NOSTOPS has worked tirelessly and consistently in this space to bolster the image of the Indian Knowledge worker globally. We have successfully sought information as per RTI laws, undertaken multiple advocacy related activities, and earned numerous media mentions based on our research findings and observations.

In our very first year of operations, NOSTOPS brought into focus the ‘dual employment' phenomenon which highlighted entrapment of foreign guest-workers in virtual labour bondage with their American employers. In early 2005, NOSTOPS raised the issue of American work visa petitioning, where employers manipulated the prevailing wages for foreign workers and received visa approvals that allowed them to underpay foreign workers and bypass hiring local citizens.

Wage discrimination and abuse of the guest-workers’ rights have been the key problem areas that we have highlighted via numerous media initiatives by NOSTOPS. Our sustained engagement with domain experts, key stakeholders, and policymakers of the H-1B & L visa program on Capitol Hill in Washington has positively affected Policy Reform towards foreign guest-worker issues in America.

NOSTOPS has testified in the US Congress on labour mobility and immigration issues and has made noted contributions to the proposal draft for guest knowledge-worker reforms, which led to the drafting of the 'Visa Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act of 2007' bill proposal. This bill aimed at preventing document fraud in immigration, the misuse of immigration laws and the abuse of guestworker rights.

NOSTOPS put forward the need for stringent whistleblower protections to encourage foreign guest-workers be vocal against violations of their rights by their work-visa sponsoring employers.

NOSTOPS has worked with the US Department of Labor, and the US Department of Justice to provide evidence of visa misuse, that helped identify and document abuse of the work visa programs and apprehend perpetrators who were using loopholes to game the system

NOSTOPS research work over the years has been cited by the UK Border Agency as well as the US Homeland Security. NOSTOPS has also effectively shared all such research findings with key American tech worker organizations and partaken in a series of media initiatives to bring awareness about certain key issues, such as the brokerage of foreign talent and wage discrimination of foreign workers, thus bypassing local talent and creating segregation of workers class – amongst both foreign guest workers as well as local citizens

NOSTOPS closely works with the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Missions abroad on assisting and repatriating ‘stranded’ Indian Citizens that are victims of employer related abuse. NOSTOPS has shared its research findings with stakeholders in the Lok Sabha which led to a spotlight on the Indian labour policy and the need for a change in the same.

Going forward, NOSTOPS proposes to work on bringing awareness to the pressing need of the Indo-American Totalization Agreement, the long pending Social Security pact between the United States and India - which will allow Indian workers to repatriate their Social Security contributions made in the United States.

NOSTOPS, closely works with the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Missions abroad on assisting and repatriating ‘stranded’ Indian Citizens abroad that are victims of employer related abuse.

NOSTOPS has contributed it's research findings to the stakeholders in the LokSabha leading to bringing attention to the need for a change in labour policy in India.

Moving forward NOSTOPS proposes to work on, and bring awareness to the pressing need of the Indo-American Totalisation Agreement, the long pending Social Security Pact between the United States and India - which will allow Indian workers to repatriate their social security contributions made in the United States.

The Start Up Ecosystem -
It is an established fact that the Indian knowledge-worker has made a huge impact on global business as an integral cog in the corporate wheel. The service-oriented mindset aside, we at NOSTOPS recognize the potential the knowledge workers have has as Job Creators too! We therefore assign significant weightage to our relationships with Campus Incubators to mentor startup ecosystems. We handhold startups in their ‘go to market’ strategies and guide them on cross cultural / cross border communications. Complemented with a robust PR strategy, we work consistently to plug knowledge gaps and address disparate issues faced by Indian startups.

NOSTOPS.org aims to be the perfect launchpad to address the complex and disparate needs of each persona detailed below: