Visa fee increase could impact Indian cos: US

Washington, Aug 18 (PTI) Amid mounting concerns over
the move to hike the H-1B and L1 visa fee, the US has said it
could have an adverse impact on Indian companies and efforts
were underway to mitigate it.
However, Washington exuded confidence that the
long-term economic partnership with India would continue to
deepen and strengthen.
"We understand the Government of India's concerns. We
realise it could impact Indian companies that invest in the
US and we also understand the potential impact on Indians who
work in the US as well as some American businesses," State
Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner said.
But, he added, that the US was confident that its
long-term economic partnership with India would continue to
deepen and provide benefits for both societies.
The proposed increase in visa application fee by at
least USD 2,000 for next five years would raise nearly USD 550
million out of USD 650 million that have been allocated for
increasing the security of the US-Mexico border.
These 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.
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.
Nasscom estimates that Indian companies, mostly IT,
apply for 50,000 visas every year, including H-1B and L1
visas, besides renewal of old visas.
When asked about New Delhi's plans to take the US to
the World Trade Organisation on the visa fee hike issue, Toner
said, "it is within India's purview to do that."
"I think we remain cognisant of the effect that this
legislation may have on India, and we're going to try to work
with them to mitigate it. But beyond that, I don't have a
reaction. I mean, we have got a robust economic partnership
with India," Toner said.
The steep increase in visa fee of certain categories
of H-1B and L1 visas was part of the USD 600 million border
security bill signed by the US President Barack Obama to
strengthen security along the US-Mexico border.
"This is a grave mistake during a time of economic
weakness for the nation. Congress should deregulate visas, not
burden their users with more regulations and fees," said Alex
Nowrasteh, a policy analyst at Washington-based Competitive
Enterprise Institute, said in The Boston Globe.
He said that protectionist aspects of the legislation
were worrying. (MORE) PTI LKJ
MYR


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