Indian software exporters are seeing an increased number of visits from US visa authorities, signalling higher levels of scrutiny and costs, in the backdrop of new changes proposed for H-B visas.

A week back, the Donald Trump administration proposed plans to “revise” the definition of employment and speciality occupations under the H-1B visas, apart from additional requirements designed to ensure employers pay appropriate wages to H-1B visa holders. Further, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also will “revise the definition” of employment and employer-employee relationship to “better protect” US workers and wages.

As an example, random compliance visits have gone up significantly. “They (authorities) now come up to our door and ask for documentation of workers, whether they fit the definition of “speciality workers”, cross-check their salary slips and even whether they are getting paid on time,” some on-site employees working for Infosys, Wipro and Cognizant told BusinessLine.

To understand this clampdown by the US authorities, one needs to go back a couple of decades to the genesis of the $155-billion IT industry. Indian companies saw a lucrative opportunity in staffing IT engineers for larger multinationals and made use of H-B visas. However, many in the industry, opine that the larger software exporters abused the system by bringing in people with “non-speciality” skills and paying them lesser salary (in comparison to local Americans).

The visits are done by the Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS) unit within the US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Stricter norms

Emails sent to Infosys did not elicit a response. However, a Cognizant spokesperson said that it has a strong compliance program. “We occasionally receive site visits from government officials which consistently result in compliant outcomes. We are supportive of programmes designed to curb abuse of visa programmes. We remain an industry leader in complying with the letter and spirit of US immigration law, and we will continue to assure adherence to all immigration laws and regulations,” the spokesperson said. However, Cognizant did not provide specific information on site visits.

“The scrutiny has gone up and any discrepancy found results in a red flag after which the visa approval gets very difficult,” said Rohit Turkhud, Partner, Fakhoury Global Immigration.

The rejection rates have gone up to 50 per cent or 1 in 2 visas from 30 per cent in fiscal 2014, as per data from EB-5 United and the industry. According to an on-site employee, the situation has worsened to such an extent that Brand India is viewed with negativity. Further, IT exporters have faced lawsuits, paid fines and settled matters relating to H1-B abuses.

The clampdown is against those who use foreign employment to pay less, not based on merit or qualifications, provide fewer benefits, according to Sara Blackwell, President and attorney at The Blackwell Firm. Meanwhile, IT companies are trying to repair their image by hiring locals.

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