H-1B fees are on the rise

The US-India Business Council (USIBC) and Indian IT industry body Nasscom hosted a meeting with members of the US Congress to discuss the opportunities and challenges, including those around visa, for Indian technology firms.

The meeting saw participation from Nasscom member companies and five US Congress members — Ami Bera, Brendan Boyle, Derek Kilmer, Billy Long and Juan Vargas.

The delegation, led by Congressman Bera, will also meet senior government officials and business leaders to gain a deeper understanding of the opportunities for collaboration between the countries.

Bera, who is the only Indian American currently serving in Congress, is also the co-chair of the House India Caucus in the US House of Representatives.

“This meeting was important because it gave Indian tech companies an opportunity to showcase the contributions they have made to the US economy. We emphasized that the Indian IT sector, which is a $148 billion industry, is the crown jewel of the Indian economy and, as such, is extremely important to the US-India bilateral relationship,” USIBC president Mukesh Aghi said in a statement.

Congressman Bera said the visit provided great insight into the opportunities the US and India have to strengthen and grow their technology sectors.

“I look forward to continued discussions about expanding foreign direct investment and market access to help grow our economies and deepen US-India ties,” he added.

Sources said the recent hike in visa fee was also discussed.  The US, under the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, has imposed a special fee of $4,000 on certain categories of H-1B visas and $4,500 on L1 visas.  Almost all Indian IT companies would pay between $8,000 and $10,000 per H-1B visa from April 1, when the next annual H-1B visa filing session starts, thus making it quite economically unsustainable for them.

According to Nasscom, this is expected to have an impact of about $400 million annually on India’s technology sector.