Indian Information technology companies have more headwinds coming their way with the Donald Trump administration tightening the norms for issuing US H-1B visa to those working in third-party sites. The major concern with the new rules is that it could force a worker to return home after the end of each project.

“As per the new proposals, if a project is completed in, say, three months, the employee has to be brought back as he was given the visa for that specific project at a specific location. You will have to begin the process all over again for another project,” said a top executive at an IT company.

This has rattled IT companies in India as the norms could make life tougher for them.

Nasscom President R Chandrashekhar said the new rule could make it costlier and cumbersome in managing things, leading to gaps in handling different projects by firms. “This is part of a series of executive actions that are progressively making it more onerous and expensive. The latest order complicates it further,” he said.

Protecting US workers

The seven-page Policy Memorandum by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services is seen as part of the ‘Buy American, Hire American’ campaign launched by the Donald Trump administration last year, which seeks to protect the interests of US workers.

Another executive said that if a company has to bring back a worker at the end of a project and then re-apply for a visa for the next project, then it would drive up costs. IT companies pay about $5,000 on a visa (fee, lawyer fee and other overheads) on each H-1B visa.

“This could lead to unnecessary and expensive paperwork burden. This action seems to be at odds with the administration’s effort to reduce regulation and red tape,” Nasscom said.

Looking beyond visas

The latest move comes even as industry experts have urged IT players to move away from a business model that is dependent on H-1B visas.

Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy, last year, had come out strongly against the way Indian IT companies are looking at the H-1B diktat issued by the Donald Trump administration.

“Companies should not rely on regulation in whatever markets they are working in,” he had said, urging Indian software firms to focus on local hiring in the US. Others are propagating a model wherein Indian IT players should put a greater focus on moving up the value chain instead of taking up low-cost jobs.

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