Indian IT industry in a fix as US mulls H1-B visa suspension

BENGALURU: Reports of Donald Trump-led US government planning to temporarily suspend various guest worker visas, including H1-B visas, have caused an uncertainty in the Indian IT/ITes sector — the highest beneficiary of these visas.

According to US official data, 2,75,000 H1-B visa applications were received for FY21 alone. However, due to stricter regimes and compliance costs, the rejection rate for these visas stood at 30 per cent in the first quarter of FY20. The rejection rate for Indian IT/ ITes and consultancy firms is even higher than the US-headquartered firms. Nearly 67 per cent of fresh H1B visa applications for FY21 came from India, the data showed.