H-1B fee hike spells gloom for Indian IT

Bigger firms may handle costs better, other sectors affected too

- Dipti Sharma dipti.sharma@livemint.​com MUMBAI

India's information technology (IT) firms, the top users of H-IB visas to deploy workers in the US, face a new challenge after a significant spike in costs.

On Friday, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order sharply increasing fees for each foreign worker on an H-1B visa to $100,000 from about $1,000.

Though the administration clarified later that this would be a one-time fee for future visas and would not affect existing visas or renewals, market sentiments towards the sector have soured.

Apart from IT, the Trump measure casts a shadow over healthcare workers and Indian students with US job offers, among others. Confusion over the visa rules led to a scramble for flights to the US. For the tech sector in particular, the development comes at a time when it has lost its safe-haven status, and shares of IT firms have lagged the benchmark Nifty index.