Nasscom downplays US H1-B visa row

Nasscom president who sounded hopeful said new Bill which is getting prepared which looks positive

Even as Indian information technology (IT) companies are concerned about a proposed US legislation that restricts the issue of H1-B visas, Nasscom President Som Mittal said there is was no need to panic. He said some provisions in the Bill were positive for the industry. The US was also preparing another Bill on the issue, he said, adding he hoped this would be a positive for the industry.

At Nasscom’s EmergeOut Conclave 2013 here, Mittal said though a few provisions in the immigration Bill were restrictive and discriminatory, many provisions were positive. “If this Bill is passed, the biggest impact would be on our customers — major corporations in the US that are going through a transformation. They are batting for us there,” he said.

The House was preparing a new Bill, he said, adding, “We hope the House Bill would be more moderate and wouldn’t have the same amount of discrimination the Senate Bill has.”

 “In the last five years, we have contributed more than $15 billion by taxes and social security there,” he said. “Let’s not worry about a coming Act; let’s look at the fundamentals. There would be a shortage of technical resource in the US.”

He said unemployment in the technical segment was below two per cent. According to the labour ministry of that country, if unemployment is less than four per cent, it indicates a shortage. To address this, the House Bill proposes to increase the number of H1-B visas to 2,10,000.

The Senate Bill “puts restrictions on our ability to service our customers and prevents a level playing field. But before we talk about impact, we are missing the biggest point---the huge impact on our customers in the US”, Mittal said.

“Most of the restrictions would have a severe impact on US companies, not just technology companies, but all corporations…these corporations are lobbying, which would help us. We are confident many of the points in the draft Bill would be changed,” he added.

Asked whether only Indian IT companies would be affected by the Bill, Mittal said, “Indian companies account for the largest services business---these have a 55 per cent market share in the global outsourcing business. There are other countries, but they are small.”

“Our hope is in the process of legislation in the US; that’s how democracy works. India is strategic to the US and nobody wants unnecessary trade issues. We will do everything needed to ensure the industry isn’t impacted,” he said.