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A Bill by a group of US senators seeking to put curbs on professional visas to foreign workers could be violating global trade rules, a Government official has said. India would take action if needed, the official added.
IT majors including Infosys, Wipro and TCS will be hit if the proposals, including a steep penalty on companies that hire a greater number of workers on H1B and L1 visas compared to local recruits, are implemented.
“The draft Bill is at an initial stage. We do not have to act just now. But the contents certainly seem to be against the provisions of the General Agreement on Trade in Services. We have kept a strict watch on the developments and would take action when required,” the official said.
According to the provisions of the Bill, if an employer has 50 or more staff , and if more than 30 per cent (but less than 50 per cent) of them are on H1B or L1 visas, a fee of $5,000 for each additional worker will have to be paid. In case the number of workers on such visas cross 50 per cent, the fee would go up to $10,000. H1B is a work permit for temporary speciality workers, while the L1 visas are issued for intra-company transfers that allow companies to relocate qualified employees to US offices.
Apprehensive
A number of Indian IT companies have publicly expressed their apprehensions, saying the Bill would affect them adversely.
Some trade experts have endorsed the Government’s view that the Bill may have violated World Trade Organisation rules. “Under the GATS, the US is obliged to issue 65,000 work visas to foreigners every year. It cannot put conditions on that,” pointed out Biswajit Dhar, Director-General, Research & Information System.
Although the draft bill also proposes to increase the number of H1B and L1 visas to 205,000 from the 85,000 issued now, the increased number will not lead to a relaxation of obligations imposed by the WTO. “There are a set of rules governing the issue of H1B visas and L1 visas and these have to be followed uniformly. The US cannot say that it would not penalise companies while issuing 65,000 visas and the penalty would kick in after the threshold,” Dhar said.
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