As part of a recent proclamation, U.S. President Donald Trump heralded a plan to increase the application fee for H-1B visas. This proposed new fee would be $100,000. That alarming jump is a real threat to technology and fintech companies, their employees and customers. These businesses are deeply reliant on highly skilled immigrants to operate and succeed. Currently 71% of H-1B visa holders in the U.S. are Indian nationals. This announcement has caused a flurry of frustration and dismay among Indian techies and Indian tech companies.
The new fee structure, which West Virginia intends to implement, has the potential to profoundly upend the industry. Indian IT heavyweights such as Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Tata Consultancy Services are already reeling from the impact of this announcement. Their public-facing stock market shares have begun to crater, too. According to Citi Research, investors were quick to welcome that news with their pocketbooks. They began dumping shares of Indian IT outsourcing companies, worried by increasing costs of hiring workers on H-1B visas.
Shubra Singh, a biotech professional originally from India, now lives and works in the U.S. She noted that concern is increasing about the industry-fee-hike that’s been proposed. She mentioned that families back home have been sending “all kinds of articles on the H-1B situation,” reflecting widespread fear and uncertainty about employment prospects in the United States.
“It will increase the cost of doing business for IT services companies and end-clients in the U.S., impacting margins for IT services companies,” – Citi Research
The implications of this fee hike go deeper than just the lost opportunities for potential visa holders. The fiscal pressure could force IT companies to reconsider their employee localization plans. Or they may start to move employees to “near-shore global capability centers,” where pay is cheaper. To make matters worse, this change would lead to a significant decline in job creation overall for H-1B visa holders in the U.S., deepening concerns that are already substantial.
Forecasters for the modeling economists expect new H-1B visa holders to decrease. This sudden drop will most probably bring down these remittances that are sent back home to India. Beyond our communities, this decline will have ripple effects on our entire economy, hitting families who depend on these dollars to survive. Additionally, the $100,000 visa fee may act as a new “tax” on Indian students seeking employment in the U.S. after graduation, potentially discouraging future applicants from pursuing educational opportunities across the Atlantic.
The reality of these changes has left many current visa holders feeling anxious and uncertain about their future in the U.S. The previously proposed increased cost of acquiring an H-1B visa would be a deterrent to many potential students and professionals. Consequently, they tend to rule out the U.S. as a potential destination for their careers.
The cumulative of these proposed changes is major. Other IT services companies, such as Mphasis, cite that they are already working in eliminating their dependence on visas through aggressive local hiring, acquisition buying and partnership creating. They stressed that when fully staffed they are able to meet all existing clients needs. Moving forward, though, that’s going to change.
Follow along as the thread continues to develop! It’s important for everyone impacted to pay close attention to possible shifts in immigration policy and learn exactly how these changes could impact their professional endeavors. This recent fee increase has created a lot of uncertainty in the H-1B visa holder community. As a result, it seems like everybody’s worrying about its possible effects on their employment prospects.