Not many takers for H-1B visas

Applications for H-1B work visas, once most sought-after among Indian IT professionals, have not even reached the 50 per cent mark of the Congressional-mandated quota of 65,000, United States officials have said, amid India's concerns over the fee hike for the scheme.

According to the latest figures released by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, just 29,700 people had applied for H-1B visas till August 13.

In the separate higher-education category, the USCIS had received only 12,300 petitions so far.

Till two years ago, the cap for both the categories of H-1B visas was reached within the first few days and USCIS had to resort to computerised draw of lots to decide the successful applicants.

The low-key response this year comes amid India's concerns over the hike in H-1B and L1 visa fee, which would adversely affect Indian IT companies.

"We are in touch with the Indian government and are trying as best as we can to answer the questions they have about this new law," a senior US official, familiar with the ongoing Indo-US talks on this issue, said.

. . .

The US Senate on August 5 approved a substantial increase in application fees for H-1B and L visas, the most sought after Indian IT professionals.

The hike is proposed to fund a $600 million emergency package to improve security along the porous Mexican border.

India's Commerce and Industry Minister, Anand Sharma, had last week also written a letter to US Trade Representative, Ron Kirk, on the issue.

Under the $600 million border security bill signed into law by President Barack Obama, nearly $550 million would be raised by increasing the fee in the categories of H-1B and L1 visas for the next five years, which would mostly impact Indian IT companies.

. . .

The Senate measure increases the visa fee to $2,000 per application on those companies that have less than 50 per cent of their employees as American citizens.

The proposed massive increase in visa application fee would primarily affect the top Indian IT companies, who rely majorly on these categories of visas to continue with their work in the US.

India may drag US to the World Trade Organization for its new 'protectionist' move in hiking the visa fees.

The Indian IT companies are extremely irked over the issue. Software giant Infosys had said recently that the hike US visa fees is discriminatory and did not help create an open competitive market.

. . .

Corporate America has come down heavily against all those in the US who have been alleging that Indian companies grab most of the H-1B work visas thus taking away most jobs from Americans.

In a latest report on immigration, US Chamber of Commerce, which is world's largest chamber with more than 3 million members, asserted that such an allegation against Indian companies is 'hyperbole'.

"While some have expressed fears that H-1B professionals hired by Indian companies threaten the US workforce -- or have expressed concern that Indian companies do not sponsor many of their employees for green cards -- the actual numbers are such as to make any concerns overwrought, even if using a simplistic, zero-sum view of the labour market," US Chamber of Commerce said in its latest report.

. . .

"This legislation seeks to raise revenue for broader border security by taxing mostly Indian companies that are investing heavily in our country," the US-India Business Council president, Ron Somers, said.

"It is unfortunate that the Congress passed a bill that not only links India to border security with Mexico, but also does not take into account the terrible economic impact this will have for the United States," Somers said.

"The Bill imposes substantial and discriminatory fee increases on global information services companies that utilise temporary, non-immigrant visas (H-1 and L-1) to bring in skilled professionals to serve US companies," he said.