Uncertainty
for the Indian information technology (IT) sector worsened, with the US
suspending the processing of premium H1B visas citing a backlog of applications.
The
move would adversely impact domestic software exporters such as Tata
Consultancy Services (Tcs) and Infosys as well as multinational firms such as
IBM and Google, who send engineers to work on projects in the US.
Even
as the US Citizenship and Immigration Services made this
announcement, Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar was in the US to engage
with President Donald Trump’s administration, asking it to not impose
restrictions on the entry of engineers. This suspension might last six months.
“Tier-I
Indian IT services firms largely use the premium processing category for H1B
visa for their employees, since they can easily afford the additional $1,225
fee. But, there will be uncertainty, as they will have to wait even for ongoing
projects,” said Pareekh Jain of HfS Research India
Even
if this suspension might have a short-term impact, this clearly hinted at a
tougher immigration policy in the US, the biggest market for Indian IT
companies, added Jain.
This
means the IT services firms cannot send their employees on urgent projects
after April 3, thereby impacting their quarterly business numbers. This delay
would add to the existing uncertainties of pricing pressure for the large
Indian IT services players. They will now have to plan at least three months in
advance to send employees abroad, instead of a week as they now do.
“With
this, all employers who want to send employees on H1B visas have to plan for even longer ahead,” said
Poorvi Chothani of LawQuest, a global immigration and employment law firm.
Thousand of IT sector employees go to the US on premium H1B visas.
While
US President Trump had called for tougher immigration laws for technology
companies, and had threatened to impose taxes on companies that moved work
offshore, in his first State of the Union address to a joint session of the US
Congress last week, he proposed having a merit-based immigration system like in
Canada, Australia and other nations.
Those
meeting emergency criteria might, however, still apply for a visa.
“While
premium processing is suspended, petitioners may submit a request to expedite
an H1B petition if they meet the Expedite Criteria. It is the petitioner’s
responsibility to demonstrate that they meet at least one of the expedite
criteria, and we encourage petitioners to submit documentary evidence to
support their expedite request,” said USCIS.
Industry
analysts say given the backlog of petitions with the USCIS, the leeway though
Expedite Criteria might not prove to be effective.
T
V Mohandas Pai, an IT industry veteran and former board member of Infosys, said
this would not have much impact as the US government might resume this service soon.
“This
is a common thing and has happened before also. Applications for new visas
though premium category usually submitted before April and the petitions sent
after that are mostly for renewal,” said Pai.
On
hold
The
suspension of H1B visas, which might last six months, will adversely affect the
IT sector
2015: Indians
got nearly 69% of H1B visas issued
On
the ground
Nasscom,
the representative body for the Indian IT sector, says the US faces a serious
shortage of computer science engineers
Worrying
matters
USCIS
to suspend processing premium H1B visas from April 3
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