U.S. President Donald Trump’s proclamation to raise H-1B visa fees to $100,000 annually on Friday came as a rude shock to a techie couple from Bengaluru, now based in California, one employed with an American company and the other with an Indian company.
“Will our companies cough up so much year after year to retain us in the U.S.? Can we pay this money ourselves? No way,” said the apprehensive woman techie, who did nto wish to be named. “Life has been really tough since January. We have been living under uncertainty and fear already. We don’t feel we are in America anymore.”
Many from Karnataka
This, they said, is a pervasive feeling among some 3,00,000 Indian tech workers deployed by various enterprises across the U.S, holding H1-B visas. Karnataka, being the tech flagbearer of India, has some 1,25,000 tech workers employed onsite in the US.
Avinash Vashistha, chairman and CEO, Tholons, a GCC Consulting and IT Services Firm, said, the increase in the H-1B visa fee is a major policy change that will have significant consequences for the global IT industry. “This will force a major shift in how companies, both in the U.S. and India, manage their talent,’‘ Mr. Vashistha told The Hindu.
