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US President Donald Trump’s determination to enforce a hefty yearly interest of $100,000 connected H-1B visas has triggered wide debate. Indian manufacture leaders, governmental voices and assemblage representatives person each weighed in, informing that the determination could backfire connected the US portion benefiting India.
What is changing?
On Friday, Trump signed a proclamation introducing a mandatory yearly interest of $100,000 connected H-1B visas, effectual from Sunday. Currently, H-1B filing fees scope from $2,000 to $5,000, depending connected the employer's size. The visas, valid for 3 years and renewable, are wide utilized by American companies to bring successful highly skilled overseas professionals, galore from India.Trump defended the determination arsenic a measurement to support American jobs, arguing that outsourcing firms person utilized the programme to regenerate US workers with cheaper overseas talent.
He described it arsenic some an economical and nationalist information issue.
“America’s nonaccomplishment volition beryllium India’s gain”
Former Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant was among the archetypal to respond strongly. “Donald Trump’s 100,000 H-1B interest volition choke US innovation, and turbocharge India’s. By slamming the doorway connected planetary talent, America pushes the adjacent question of labs, patents, innovation and startups to Bangalore and Hyderabad, Pune and Gurgaon,” helium wrote connected X.
Kant argued that India present has an accidental to harness the expertise of doctors, engineers and scientists who whitethorn different person chosen to enactment successful the US.
Offshoring volition accelerate
Infosys seasoned and capitalist Mohandas Pai said the outgo would discourage caller applicants. “It has got constricted application, because... it doesn’t use to each the H-1B visas which are already there. So determination could beryllium lone interaction for anybody applying successful future, caller applications volition travel down. Nobody’s going to wage $100,000, that is precise true,” Pai was quoted arsenic saying by quality bureau PTI.He added that US firms volition progressively displacement enactment offshore, boosting India’s Global Capability Centres. “Now what volition hap is everybody volition enactment to summation offshoring... due to the fact that it doesn’t marque sense, first, you don’t get talent, 2nd the costs are excessively high. That volition hap implicit the adjacent possibly six months to 1 year,” helium said.
More endowment volition instrumentality to India
Entrepreneur and Snapdeal co-founder Kunal Bahl besides weighed in, saying the caller rules would punctual galore skilled professionals to instrumentality home. “Because of the caller H-1B rules, a tremendous fig of talented individuals are going to beryllium headed backmost to India,” helium wrote connected X.
“It volition nary uncertainty beryllium pugnacious successful the opening to determination base, but volition enactment retired for them fixed the tremendous opportunities successful India. The endowment density successful India is going up”, helium added.In a abstracted post, helium shared his idiosyncratic relationship and wrote, “In 2007, sitting astatine my table successful Microsoft I got an email that my H1B visa was rejected. It was crushing and numbing astatine that moment, but life-changing yet erstwhile I moved backmost to India.
To those impacted today, beryllium positive. There is thing overmuch bigger & amended successful store for you.”
US voices of concern
The determination has besides faced backlash wrong the US. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi called it “reckless” and “unfortunate,” saying America risks cutting itself disconnected from high-skilled workers who person historically powered its economy, according tor PTI.Community person Ajay Bhutoria, based successful Silicon Valley, warned that specified a interest would deter apical planetary talent, adding that it could weaken the region’s exertion ecosystem.
The India angle
While Indian professionals looking to enactment successful the US look an further barrier, experts judge the semipermanent interaction could beryllium affirmative for India. With higher visa costs deterring mobility, companies whitethorn grow operations successful India itself, fuelling maturation successful Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and Gurgaon, arsenic Kant pointed out.As Pai noted, salaries for H-1B workers are already high, often supra $100,000, truthful the cognition that the programme imports inexpensive labour is misplaced.
Instead, the caller rules whitethorn extremity up shifting innovation and startup maturation to India.Data from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) shows however important Indian and planetary firms are successful the H-1B ecosystem. For FY2025, Amazon topped the database with 10,044 approvals, followed by TCS (5,505), Microsoft (5,189), Meta (5,123), Apple (4,202) and Google (4,181). Other large beneficiaries included Cognizant, JP Morgan Chase, Walmart, Deloitte, Infosys, LTIMindtree and HCL America.
Experts pass that the $100,000 interest could impact some Indian IT services and US tech giants that trust heavy connected this endowment pool.Trump’s proclamation whitethorn people governmental points domestically, but experts hav cautioned that it could erode America’s competitory edge. As Amitabh Kant summed up, “America’s nonaccomplishment volition beryllium India’s gain.” For India’s tech sector, this whitethorn good beryllium the propulsion that accelerates its translation into a planetary innovation hub.
