US move to hike visa fee discriminatory: Nasscom

Software industry body Nasscom today said the US Border Security Bill, which has been passed by the Senate, has logical flaws and is discriminatory in nature.

"From India's perspective, I think it has been done ahead of November Congressional elections. It is based on flawed logic and is discriminatory in nature. But it did clarify that it is not targeting any particular nation...

"It (this Bill) shows the fact that Indian IT industry is posing significant competition to the US companies," Nasscom President Som Mittal said in a media conference call.

The Bill seeks to increase application fee for H-1B and L visas by at least $2,000 for the next five years. The move is aimed at raising funds for the $600 million spending plan to boost security at the porous US-Mexico border.

The US President, Barack Obama, will sign the bill into law today.

The fee hike would help in mopping up about $550 million of the total amount. Further, the increase would be applicable only for companies with more than 50 employees and for whom the majority of their workforce are visa-holding foreign workers.

"We are in talks with the US authorities to make separate visa categories for the services sector," Mittal added.

Indian software firms, including IT biggies like TCS, Infosys, Wipro and others, avail H-1B and L-1 visas to fly their employees to the US for working at their clients' locations as on-site engineers.

The $50-billion Indian IT export industry earns over 50 per cent of its revenue from the US market.

When asked about the immediate impact of the Bill on Indian IT companies, Mittal said that these entities would have to change their business models.

"The US is our largest IT market and will remain our largest market. The US trade bodies are very supportive. In terms of revenues, their would be no huge impact," Mittal noted.

IT companies from countries such as China and the Philippines would also be impacted by the Bill.

As per Nasscom's estimates, Indian companies (mostly IT) apply for 50,000 visas every year, including H-1B and L1 visas, besides renewal of old visas.