In a big relief for Indian IT cos US Congress lets ‘discriminatory’ outsourcing H-1B fee to lapse. The “discriminatory” USD 2,000 H-1B fee, which was mostly imposed on Indian IT companies has now lapsed in a Republican-majority US Congress.

“It had nothing to do with the IT industry. It was applied in an inequitable way, which specifically targeted Indian companies,” NASSCOM president R Chandrashekhar said, adding that he would welcome any move to eliminate the fee. Nasscom has said that the Indian tech industry has contributed an estimated over USD 375 million during this period to the US Treasury including helping America to secure its borders.

The legislation with regard to a $2,000 fee on H-1B visas for companies having more than 50% of its employees from overseas was adopted by the US Congress in 2010 mainly at the instance of a group of lawmakers led by Senator Charles Schumer. The legislation passed on August 10, contains provision to hike H-1B and L-1 Visa fee per application by $2,000 and $2,250 respectively, for the qualifying firm, which mainly targeted Indian IT companies.

"Congress watched employers discriminate against Americans in hiring and firing, and then ship American jobs overseas. Congress promised to do something about these pernicious practices -- and it did. It made them cheaper," said IEEE-USA president Jim Jefferies. "Congress should be looking for ways to discourage outsourcing, not make it more profitable," Jefferies said.

"The fee isn't enough, of course. Do the math -- the going rate for the kind of work being done at Disney and Southern California Edison was in the $100,000 to $120,000 annual salary range," he said. "Congress allows H-1B outsources to pay as little as $60,000 for this work. So paying $2,000 for each H-1B to replace a middle class American worker is embarrassing," he added.

By Premji