Another H-1B fee hike to hit Indian techies

Engineers hoping for an onsite in the US are set to receive another jolt as the Trump administration could soon increase the H-1B visa fee further, pushing IT companies to hire locally in the US.

US Labour Secretary Alexander Acosta told US lawmakers that an increase in H-1B visa application fee will raise funding for the expansion of an apprentice programme, which trains American youths in technology-related activities.

While the exact details of the visa-fee hike were not disclosed, Acosta, who was testifying before a Congressional committee on annual budget for the Department of Labour for fiscal 2020, argued that foreigners hurt American workers by competing for jobs and driving down wages.