By Kritika Gangwar
The US government has increased the fees for H-1B visa applications to $100,000 as compared to the earlier fees, which were around $7,500 – $10,000.
The immigrants might end up spending $150-155 more as their immigration fees based on their past visa records, as said by the ET.
On Monday, the white house said that current H-1B visa holders don’t need to make decisions so fast about moving from one place to another; they made it clear that the new rule is just for future applications. The long-term impact on India’s tech industry runs deep. The policy risks upending a business model that, over decades, transformed states like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka into global IT giants.
The fee hike strikes the heart of India’s $245 billion IT industry, where almost half of the engineers have either been H-1B visa holders or want to have one. States like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the country’s undisputed tech capitals, the implications are very high.
An IT professional in Porur, Anivar Aravind, said, “This isn’t just a cost increase for onsite employment; it’s a fundamental change that marks the death of the traditional onsite business model. This primarily shows the H-1B visa dream is over for Indian professionals. In addition, this will also end the study in US plans as well.”
Across India’s tech hubs, many believe the true cost of visa fee hike won’t be measured in just dollars but in the careers of those who lost opportunities The impact goes beyond employees, especially the IT businessmen who are also under a lot of stress. This policy creates a two-tiered system, as large multinational firms are able to get through the added costs, while smaller firms are left without any choice.
Anish Pathalani, an IT infrastructure manager, stated that “more than Indians, the US firms are likely to be affected in the long run. The US IT sector heavily depends on Indians for various projects. With this fee coming in overnight, the US firms cannot build up resources.”