U.S. doubles H-1B, L-1 work visa fees for Indian firms

“The Prime Minister shared with President Obama the concerns of the Indian IT industry and professionals on the proposed legislation in the US Congress relating to H1B and L1 visas”, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.

Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had raised the issue with US President Barack Obama when the latter telephoned him to thank for his leadership role on achieving the historic agreement on climate change in Paris on December 12.

Unfortunately, India’s concerns are likely to fall on deaf ears, because its political poison in America to oppose funds for 9/11 victims.

The US Congress has imposed a special fee of up to $4,500 on the H-1B and L-1 visas. To keep those dollars flowing, the Bill has increased the amount businesses must pay to secure an H1-B or L1 visa.

In a study released in September 2015, the National Association of Software and Services Companies, an IT industry body, had said Indian IT companies have paid between $70 million and $80 million annually for the U.S. treasury approximately. Use of such visas has become an issue in the USA presidential election, as some candidates seek to curb use of the permit in order to promote employment of local workers.

According to Chandrasekaran, the Indian government now has to decide on what it needs to do. USA companies often contractually require Indian tech firms to place employees on site to troubleshoot.

The new hike in H-1B and L-1 visa fee is for a period of 10 years compared with the previous provision of five years.

India’s IT industry is once more a punching bag for US politicians.

He was replying to a question by a journalist about the impact of the visa fee hike in the USA on IT companies headquartered in India. In November, Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin introduced a bill that would require all companies that want to hire workers under H-1Bs to first try to hire USA citizens. This was applicable to companies that employ 50 or more employees in the United States, if more than 50% of the applicants’ employees are under the H-1B or L-1 work visa status. The bill provides funding for the next fiscal year, through September 30 next year. And the USA market is critical: nearly 60 percent of that figure came from North America. The programme will last for 75 years, until 2090.