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  1. #1
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Higher U.S. Visa Fees Would Hit Indian Firms

    AUGUST 7, 2010.

    Higher U.S. Visa Fees Would Hit Indian Firms

    By AMOL SHARMA in New Delhi and KEITH JOHNSON in Washington

    NEW DELHI—Legislation that passed the U.S. Senate late Thursday would significantly increase fees for skilled-worker visas, a move that would deal a financial blow to Indian technology-outsourcing companies that send thousands of employees to the U.S. each year.

    The measure, which was attached to a $600 million border-security spending bill that senators passed just before leaving for their August recess, would require all companies with U.S. staff that have more than half their U.S.-based employees on H1-B or L-1 visas to pay thousands of dollars in special new fees for each worker.

    Som Mittal, president of Indian technology industry trade group Nasscom, said Indian companies could face $200 million to $250 million in increased human-resources costs annually if the bill becomes law. The measure now awaits action in the U.S. House, and Indian companies plan to mount a fierce lobbying campaign against it.

    All of the biggest Indian tech companies would be affected by the fee increases, Mr. Mittal said, including giants such as Wipro Ltd., Infosys Technologies Ltd. and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.

    Big U.S. tech companies such as Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp. would almost certainly avoid the fees because their foreign workers make up less than 50% of their overall U.S. work force. An Intel spokesman said Friday, "We are aware of the legislation, we did not take a position on it and are not impacted by it."

    Mr. Mittal said, "The way they've done this, the majority of the impact is on the Indian companies."

    He said Nasscom has asked India's external affairs and commerce ministries to look into whether the measure would violate World Trade Organization rules. "It seems like indirect protectionism," he said.

    Infosys, India's second-largest outsourcing company by sales, said in a statement, "It is unfortunate that this tax is being levied on a discriminatory basis when the need is to open markets to make companies more competitive in the global marketplace."

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    European Pressphoto Agency

    A worker cleans the Wipro logo on the glass door of the company building in Bangalore.
    .Representatives of Wipro and Tata Consultancy didn't respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for India's external affairs ministry didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

    The visa issue threatens to become a wedge between India and the U.S. as the countries prepare for President Barack Obama's planned visit to New Delhi in November.

    Experience WSJ professionalEditors' Deep Dive: Reinventing Outsourcing FINANCIAL EXPRESS (INDIA)
    Outsourcing Gets More Specialized

    BPO Segment Leads Growth in IT Contracts. Access thousands of business sources not available on the free web. Learn More.Indian software services and outsourcing companies generate about 60% of their combined $50 billion in annual revenue from the U.S. The Indian industry has enjoyed explosive growth over the past decade, fueled by an army of skilled, low-cost, English-speaking workers in Bangalore and other Indian cities.

    But Indian companies also have tens of thousands of employees in the U.S. and other countries, where they work at the sites of clients such as big banks and insurance companies. Indian companies account for about 12% of new H1-B visas issued each year, Nasscom said. The Indian trade group didn't have a figure for the total number of Indian tech workers in the U.S., but said on average roughly 70% to 80% of Indian companies' U.S. labor forces are on temporary work visas.

    As the U.S. backlash over outsourcing has intensified in recent years, some critics have zeroed in on the skilled-worker visa programs, arguing that they give foreign companies a beachhead to facilitate deals with U.S. companies that ultimately transfer American jobs abroad. Sen. Charles Schumer, the New York Democrat who co-sponsored the legislation raising visa fees with Claire McCaskill (D.-Missouri), has been a critic of outsourcing.

    Sen. Schumer praised the new visa rules, which enable the bill to be funded without dipping into stimulus money. He said that forcing Indian companies to hire more American workers "is a good thing," and that the new fees would apply only to a "handful" of foreign companies.

    Indian tech companies have long feared that the U.S. would impose curbs on outsourcing. Last year, Wipro Chairman Azim Premji lobbied White House officials on the issue during a visit to Washington.

    .According to a summary of the Senate bill, the new charges would increase visa fees paid by affected companies by roughly $2,000 per visa application. But Mr. Mittal says the increase would actually be about $4,500 more per worker for new visas and $4,000 more for renewals. Currently, most visa applicants also face additional fees; in most cases, the H1-B visa fees amount to about $2,320.

    "The question is how much of the costs they will be able to pass on to clients," said Avinash Vashistha, chief executive of Bangalore-based outsourcing industry consultancy Tholons.

    Mr. Vashistha said the new visa costs would accelerate Indian companies' plans to hire more American-born workers in the U.S. Already, big firms such as Wipro and Tata have been beefing up U.S. hiring over the past two years.

    The Indian industry faces a fight as it tries to beat back the visa legislation. The increase in fees is supposedly how Congress will pay for the $600 million in spending on increased border personnel, unmanned aerial drones, and other initiatives to help stop illegal immigration to the U.S.

    Write to Amol Sharma at amol.sharma@wsj.com and Keith Johnson at keith.johnson@wsj.com

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... tions_tech
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  2. #2
    Senior Member millere's Avatar
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    Re: Higher U.S. Visa Fees Would Hit Indian Firms

    Quote Originally Posted by JohnDoe2
    The Indian industry faces a fight as it tries to beat back the visa legislation.

    India is not our friend, it is our enemy. Every trade negotiation we have with India injures this country somehow. They have shipped hundreds of thousands of unneeded scab laborers to the US and at least 800,000 American workers have lost their jobs to these frauds. Say it to yourself: 800,000 out of work. 800,000 OUT OF WORK!!!

    NOTHING, absolutely nothing whatsoever that India does has ever had a single benefit for the United States. Their propaganda constantly spins the tale that they produce software for the United States but not one single American that I have ever met has ever used Indian made computer software. The only instance I can recall is the fact that the US World Bank used software from Satyam of India AND THEIR INDIAN EMPLOYEES WERE ARRESTED FOR SABOTAGING WORLD BANK COMPUTERS.


    http://news.oneindia.in/2008/10/11/worl ... cking.html

    New York, Oct 11: Indian software major Satyam Computer Services has reportedly been banned from doing any off-shore work with the World Bank after forensic experts and bank investigators discovered that spy software was covertly installed on workstations inside the bank's Washington headquarters, allegedly by one or more contractors from Satyam Computer Services. According to a FOX News report, apart from Satyam, two IP intrusions have been reported from China, and there have been six intrusions in all.

  3. #3
    Senior Member millere's Avatar
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    Re: Higher U.S. Visa Fees Would Hit Indian Firms

    Quote Originally Posted by JohnDoe2
    Mr. Vashistha said the new visa costs would accelerate Indian companies' plans to hire more American-born workers in the U.S.
    Saying "that American workers will be hired" is a lie I have heard coming out of the Indian computer business for at least 5 years. They say they will hire Americans but rarely do; if they do it is to help train more Indian workers to throw more Americans out of work. They love to weave more lies, just like Obama does, that free trade will create jobs when in fact our own eyes tell us that they cause more Americans to lose their jobs...

  4. #4
    Senior Member millere's Avatar
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    Re: Higher U.S. Visa Fees Would Hit Indian Firms

    Quote Originally Posted by JohnDoe2
    Infosys, India's second-largest outsourcing company by sales, said in a statement, "It is unfortunate that this tax is being levied on a discriminatory basis when the need is to open markets to make companies more competitive in the global marketplace."
    Ah yes. The "race card" being pulled once again.

  5. #5
    Senior Member Richard's Avatar
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    Senior Member Richard's Avatar
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    I support enforcement and see its lack as bad for the 3rd World as well. Remittances are now mostly spent on consumption not production assets. Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  7. #7
    Senior Member Richard's Avatar
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