Greater localisation, offshoring to cut visa hike impact for Indian IT cos

Experts say the visa price hike impact will be minimal as IT firms are already sitting on comfortable margins due to absence of travel and reduction of other discretionary costs

Increasing localisation of workforce and pushing more work offshore are some of the levers that IT services firms are looking at using to partly mitigate the impact of the rise in visa costs in the US. 

The US Department of Homeland Security (USCIS) last week gave its approval to hike fees on non-immigrant visas, with effect from October this year. The visa filing fees for H-1B high-skill visas has been hiked by 21 per cent to $555, while that for L1 (intra-company transfer) visas has been increased by 75 per cent to $850.

While Indian IT firms have, in the past few