Disadvantage India: US Senators introduce legislation to cut down H-1B visas

In a major setback for Indian IT professionals, the US Senate has introduced a legislation to cut down on the number of H-1B visas by 15,000. The legislation has been introduced by two senators, Bill Nelson of the Democratic Party and Jeff Sessions of the Republican Party.

The demand by the two senators is that such a visa be given to highest wage earner first. “By cutting the number of visas available each year and requiring those visas be given to the highest wage- earners first, this bill directly targets outsourcing companies that rely on lower-wage foreign workers to replace equally-qualified U.S. workers,” Mr Nelson said.

At present, the US issues 85,000 H-1B visas including 20,000 for those who complete completed higher education in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The new legislation, if approved, would require the Department of Homeland Security to prioritize the allocation of these 70,000 H-1B visas to foreign workers based on their salary.

“The measure would help ensure that the H-1B visa programme was once again being used as it was originally intended: to attract foreign workers with highly specialised skills not found among the available U.S. workforce,” said Mr Nelson.

Disadvantage India

The legislation would prevent any employer from replacing a U.S. worker with an H-1B visa holder. This would require employers to prove that they first tried to hire US workers prior to hiring any H-1B visa holder. The legislation also mentions it would bar companies that employ more than 50 people from hiring any additional H-1B employees if more than half of their employees were already H-1B visa holders.

In recent years, India Inc, and especially its IT and ITES sectors, has been vocal about the problems facing Indian firms and their employees in getting a work permit to service clients on-site. Most of the IT Professionals who get the H-1B visas work for the tech giants located in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune and NCR of Delhi. With demand outdoing the supply, the H-1B visa issue has been a contentious issue between India and the US, with successive governments unable to negotiate a good bargain.

Outsourcing is a major issue in the US and as the country gears up for the presidential elections in 2016, the issue is expected to gain momentum as candidates pander to their domestic constituencies. US President Barack Obama’s much-cited mantra of ‘Say No to Bangalore and Yes to Buffalo’ had raised eyebrows, with both US and Indian corporates expressing their dismay at such an approach.

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