Wipro sees moderate impact from US visa rise

Wipro Ltd, the country’s third largest information technology (IT) services exporter, expects higher US visa costs to have a moderate impact on its operating margins in the current financial year. It may pass the increased cost on to its clients by increasing the billing rates.

“We consider this a normal increase in the cost of running a business in the US. We will speak to our customers and seek price adjustments for the extra cost and will work with them to see how to mitigate it,” said Chief Financial Officer Suresh Senapaty, on the sidelines of a CII event here today. Recent US border security legislation will double the H-1B and L-1 visa application fee from the present level of about $2,300 to about $4,300 per application.

It is seen as targeting the Indian IT services industry. “The bill will have a moderate impact in the current fiscal, but next year there will be an impact. Our medium and long-term plan is to have more and more local hiring. So, at some stage we should be able to mitigate the high visa cost. We are in talks with clients in the US, seeking price adjustments to include the higher visa costs,” added Senapaty, without quantifying the impact of the fee change on operating margins.