NASSCOM Says Dependence Of Indian IT Firms On US Visas Is Reducing

IT industry body Nasscom today said resumption of fast processing of H-1B visas by the US will help Indian technology companies smoothly conduct business even as they continue to focus on reducing their dependence on work visas.

Nasscom President R Chandrasekhar said the applications for work visas by Indian IT companies have halved over the last few years as the companies are leveraging new technologies to reduce dependence on visas to send workers to client sites.

This is certainly a welcome move. We were expecting this to come. Usually, when priority visa processing is suspended, it is done for 2 months or so. This time, it was more, which was different," he told PTI.

The US has resumed fast processing of H-1B work visas in all categories subject to Congress-mandated limit, five months after it was suspended temporarily to handle the huge rush of applications for the work visas popular among Indian IT professionals.

When a petitioner requests the agency's premium processing service, the US citizenship and immigration services (USCIS) guarantees a 15-day processing time.

If the 15-day processing time is not met, the agency will refund the petitioner's premium processing service fee and continue with expedited processing of the application. PTI