US H-1B visa fee impact now showing: How companies are switching to local hires, turning ‘thoughtful’
USCIS earlier this week clarified that the $100,000 fee would only apply to visa applications submitted on or after September 21 for workers outside the US
More than a month after the introduction of the new $100,000 H-1B visa fee, US firms have started tweaking their hiring policies to minimise the impact as this visa was key to bringing foreign tech talent, most of them Indians, into the country.
One of the major outcomes being that a large number of companies have halted their sponsorship of H-1B visas for certain job roles, and switched to local hires and workers who already have H-1B visas.
The Donald Trump-led administration, in the days after the announcement of the H-1B visa changes, has clarified that the new one-time fee would only apply to new applicants, and not current holders or those applying for renewals.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) also, earlier this week, said the fee would only apply to visa applications submitted on or after September 21 for workers outside the US. It further said that those who want to change visa types, for examples individuals moving from an F-1 student visa to an H-1B, would be exempt from paying the fee.
Some companies no longer sponsoring H-1B visas
While some large companies have said they will continue to hire through the new program, others have said they will be suspending their sponsorship of visas or reducing the number of sponsorship-dependent hires, Newsweek reported.
IT consulting firm Cognizant, founded in India and headquartered in New Jersey, has not publicly confirmed halting sponsorships. However the firm, in a job listing for a South Carolina-based software engineer role, specified they would “only consider applicants for this position who are legally authorized to work in the United States without the need of employer sponsorship”.
A company representative told Newsweek that the fee is expected to have “limited near-term impact on our operations.”
Tata Consultancy Services, one of the largest sponsors of H-1B visas, has also said it would not be hiring employees through the program. TCS CEO K Krithivasan told the Times of India and Deccan Chronicle that the company has a sufficient number of H-1B visa employees in the US, and would therefore focus on hiring local talent at present.
Retail corporation Walmart has also halted hiring candidates who require new H-1B visas, the company confirmed to BBC. The firm, which employees 2400 H-1B visa holders, said it is “committed to hiring and investing in the best talent to serve our customers”, adding that it would remain “thoughtful” about its approach to hiring from the H-1B program.
