H-1B visa issue: Sushma says not to worry, IT firms go for local hiring

Indian IT companies use H-1B visa to fly engineers to the US to service clients temporarily

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday said there was no reason to worry about the curbs on H1B visas or the job security of Indian IT professionals working in the US for the time being, as the Indian government was in talks with the US regarding this.

"Currently there are four Bills in the US Congress about curbs on H-1B visas. We are engaged (in a dialogue) with the US at very high level regarding this... We are making all efforts (through diplomatic channels) to ensure these Bills are not passed," Sushma said in the Rajya Sabha.

"So there is no reason to worry about it as of now," she added.

The minister pointed out that even before Donald Trump became President, there had been a "flip-flop" in the H-1B visa policy by the US.

"In 1990 when H1B visas were first introduced, the cap was 65,000. In 2000 it was raised to 1,95,000 for three years. In 2004 the number of these visas was again reversed to 65,000 by the US. So there has been a flip-flop on this policy even before Donald Trump government," she said.

The minister also informed the house that the visa facility extended to the spouse of the Indian professionals has not been withdrawn by the US so far.

On illegal migrants, Sushma said that the US authorities have given a list of 271 persons who they have identified for deportation.

"We have asked for more details about these 271 persons. Once we check their antecedents and find they are actually Indian citizens, we'll provide them travel documents back to India so that they are not put behind bars by US authorities," she said.

She said India will once again raise the issue of totalisation once "the jobs of Indian IT professionals are ensured to be secure".

India's $150-billion IT sector has been bracing for a reform of the distribution of H1-B visas required for the US under President Donald Trump's administration.

Indian IT firms use H-1B visa to fly engineers and developers to the US temporarily to service clients. Companies see increased local hiring and acquisitions as a way to beat any immigration challenge.

The visa issue has made IT giant TCS to go for local hiring in the US, however, they have no plans to cut on investments as the company expects robust growth from its biggest overseas market. TCS, which earns about 50 per cent of its revenue from the US, continues to remain bullish about its prospects in the country as the consumption of information technology (IT) services remains very high.

As reported earlier, Infosys is planning to significantly reduce the number of visa petitions for its junior staff. Chief executive Vishal Sikka said during the Q3 results that the company would use advanced virtual technologies and hire locally to reduce dependency on H1B visas.

Companies such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL Technologies, industry analysts say, will try to hire junior software engineers locally and skill them wherever there is a shortage of right skill sets.

According to a report in Wall Street Journal, Indian information-technology firms are boosting efforts to lobby US lawmakers and are considering ways to train American workers for tasks that Indian workers come to the US to do. 

Indian outsourcers and US tech firms say the visa program, which Trump assailed on the campaign trail as “a cheap labor program,” is necessary to fill jobs, where too few workers with the right skills are available in the US Critics, say H-1B visas are used as a cost-cutting method, with firms largely hiring Indians, who are willing to work for less than Americans.