Obama signs Border Security Bill, ignores India's concerns

Lalit K Jha

Washington, Aug 13 (PTI) Ignoring the concerns of
Corporate America and India, US President Barack Obama Friday
signed into law a new Border Security Bill proposing a steep
hike in some categories of H-1B and L-1 visa fees.
The move is expected to badly hurt Indian IT firms
which may have to shell out an additional USD 250 million
annually for the next five years.
The money thus raised by this steep increase in the
visa fee would be used to strengthen security along the porous
US-Mexico border, by deploying an additional 1,500 National
Guards, unmanned drones and other measures.
The Senate held a rare meeting – coming out of its
recess – to approve the Bill unanimously, which was done by
the House of Representatives a few days ago.
A summary of a Senate version of the Bill named Indian
firms Wipro, Tata, Infosys and Satyam, which use hundreds of
these visas for their employees coming to the United States to
work at their clients' locations as technicians and engineers.
The fee increases would apply only to companies with
more than 50 employees and for whom the majority of their
workforce is visa-holding foreign workers.
Obama, in a statement, welcomed the passage of the
Bill, saying the resources made available through this
legislation will build upon US' successful efforts to protect
communities along the Southwest border and across the country.
He said the action by Congress answers his call to
bolster the essential work of federal law enforcement
officials and improve their ability to partner with state,
local, and tribal law enforcement.
"So these steps will make an important difference as
my administration continues to work with Congress toward
bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform to secure our
borders, and restore responsibility and accountability to our
broken immigration system," the President added.

Meanwhile, India's software industry body Nasscom said
the US Border Security Bill 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 told the media.
The Bill seeks to increase application fee for H-1B
and L-1 visas by at least USD 2,000 for the next five years.
"We are in talks with the US authorities to make
separate visa categories for the services sector," he added.
The USD 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," he noted.
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.
Similarly, top industry body CII also termed the US
move as "protectionist" that could be detrimental to the
economic interests of both countries.
While urging the US Administration to reconsider the
"largely protectionists provision", the Confederation of
Indian Industry (CII) said: "The legislation would burden
Indian industry with additional costs, while being detrimental
to the economic interests of both countries."
Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, in
a communication to US Trade Representative Ron Kirk, had said
the visa fee hike was a discriminatory step that would hurt
the interest of Indian companies operating in that country.
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