Indian Government to discuss H-1B visa issues with US lawmakers today

New Delhi: An eight-member high-powered delegation, led by US Congressman Bob Goodlatte, will meet IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday to discuss issues like movement of skilled manpower and intellectual property rights.

The meeting comes at a time when the new Trump administration in the US is proposing an overhaul of the popular H-1B visa regime, raising concerns among Indian IT firms. (Also read: ‘Restrict No. of H-1B visas an employer can apply’)

Industry association Nasscom met the delegation on Monday afternoon.  

“We have shared our views with them that Indian IT industry is a large contributor to job creation in the US and we bring skills in areas where there is a huge skill deficit,” Nasscom President R Chandrashekhar told news agency Press Trust of India.

Indian IT companies are heavily dependent on the US market that accounts for over 60 per cent of the sector’s exports, and any clampdown in the visa regime may result in higher operational costs and shortage of skilled workers for the INR 7,381 billion Indian outsourcing industry.

Mr Goodlatte as Chairman of House Judiciary Committee, along with other members, plays an important role in crafting policies around high-skilled immigration and intellectual property in the US Congress.

The Indian side is expected to highlight and share information on direct jobs being created by Indian IT companies in the US, and their contribution in making the American economy competitive.

The meeting is also of significant given that growth in the Indian IT sector has been slowing down amid multiple headwinds like changing technology landscape (automation and digitisation) and global events like Brexit, apart from proposed tightening of H-1B visa regime by the Trump administration.

Industry body Nasscom, along with top industry leaders, is scheduled to meet lawmakers in the US later this week on concerns around clampdown on visas and flow of skilled manpower between the two nations.

Apart from the delegation, Microsoft’s India-born chief Satya Nadella is also scheduled to meet Mr Prasad separately on Tuesday.