The US economic downturn has hit the demand for H-1B work visas. The US has announced that it is yet to receive enough H-1B petitions to reach the cap of 65,000, stipulated for fiscal 2010.
The window for filing the H-1B petitions has been open for since April 1 and the muted response – though on expected lines – is a grim reflection of the weak US economy and the job scenario.
“The visa cap has not been met yet as there is not enough business in the US. The visa update also validates our argument that H-1Bs are not being used to replace American workers, because if that was so, companies would have flocked to file petitions amid lay-offs in the US. That has not happened,” the Nasscom President, Mr Som Mittal, told Business Line.
He said that Indian companies which had cornered 11,000 visas last year would have filed far less applications this year, but did not comment on specific numbers.
In 2008, four of the top five H1-B recipients were Indian IT firms including Infosys Technologies, Wipro, Satyam and TCS, while the fifth was Microsoft.
Infosys topped the 2008 list with 4,559 visas followed by Wipro (2,678), Satyam (1,917) and TCS (1,539). When contacted spokespersons of both TCS and Infosys declined to comment on the applications filed this year citing a silent period ahead of the results. However, a top industry expert said that total applications by India Inc. could have fallen by as much as 70 per cent.
Ms Poorvi Chothani, a US immigration attorney based in Mumbai, admits her firm has seen a 50 per cent drop in H-1B filings this time. “Besides the fact that the basic demand is less, other factors such as a possible fear of a backlash in employing foreign professionals, and Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) curbs are likely to have influenced the filings,” she said.
For FY2010, USCIS has reportedly received just “about half” the applications it needs for the 65,000 general slots, but has nearly all of the applications it needs to fill the 20,000 slots (US masters’ degree or higher that are exempt from the cap).
Earlier this month, Software giant Microsoft too had stated that it is filing less petitions for work visas due to the economic downturn.
Given that the H-1B filing are below the stipulated cap, the USCIS said Wednesday that it will continue to accept petitions, although it has not yet affixed a date for closing the filing window. It said that once it receives the required number of petitions to meet the respective caps, it will issue an update.
US businesses use the H-1B program to employ foreign professionals in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in fields, such as scientists, engineers, or computer programmers. There is an annual limit of 65,000 on H-1B workers. Additionally, another 20,000 H-1B petitions are set aside for those who have earned a US masters’ degree or higher.
