Wipro studying impact of US immigration bill

Bangalore, April 19 (IANS) Indian IT bellwether Wipro Ltd is studying the impact of the US immigration bill drafted by a group of eight senators, chairman Azim Premji said Friday.

"We appreciate the bipartisan work of the 'gang of eight' senators to work towards comprehensive immigration reform and address issues of critical importance for the US. We are reviewing and evaluating the impact of the bill, which is 800-page document," Premji told reporters here.

The global software major also plans to work with the US Congress to ensure that the proposed reform would result in having a system that is fair, efficient and consistent in view of the long-standing strategic relationship between India and the US.

"As this is a transparent legislative process, we will analyse its (bill) provisions and work with the US Congress to ensure that we have a system that is fair, efficient and consistent," Premji said at a review of the company's financial results for the fourth quarter (January-March) of last fiscal (2012-13).

As one of the top four Indian IT services firm, the US market accounts for around 51 percent of Wipro's export revenues.

The immigration reform bill is aimed at giving legal status to about 10 million immigrants and attracting high-skilled talented people to the US. The bill also intends to revamp work-visa rules to facilitate American firms to allow overseas engineers to work in the US.

The eight senators -- four Democrats and four Republicans -- have been working on the draft bill.

As the Indian IT industry representative body, Nasscom (National Association of Software and Services Companies), however, claims that the draft bill contains proposals to change visa rules, which will affect Indian software firms' ability to send as many of their engineers on H-1B work visas and force them to hire more locals in their positions.