Indian tech migration to fall as US tightens norms
Washington’s new visa clampdown aims to curb Indian dominance in America’s tech world, raising costs, rejection rates and worries across IT corridors
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Bengaluru: Migration of Indian technology talent to the US will reduce significantly over time as the American administration pursues a policy of preference to locals in their tech companies. Industry experts are of the view that there is a dominant presence of Indian professionals in the American tech industry, leading to heartburn among several natives. Now, a strong group is trying to break this dominance of Indian-American’s presence in the tech world, for which migration will be controlled to a large extent. According to them, from regulating student flow to immigration of technology professionals are under the radar of present administration.
“If you see, the CIO/CTO of all major American companies are of Indian origin. There is a clear dominance of Indian professionals in the US. So, public perception is negative on Indians, which is being flared by the MAGA base. So, movement of technology professionals to the US will be restricted in coming years,” said an immigration lawyer working with a leading group.
Technology sector experts also echoed similar sentiments. “Though Indian community is not dominant in the US, their presence in the tech world is visible. So, this has created a perception issue,” Pareekh Jain, an IT outsourcing advisor and founder of Pareekh Consulting, told Bizz Buzz.
He also said that these perceptions are flawed as Indian tech professionals have risen through merit.
Under Trump, the US administration has tightened the immigration policy, making it difficult for companies to send technology professionals to the North American country. It has raised the entry fee for H-1B visa to $100,000 for new applicants from nearly $7,000. Similarly, the visa rejection rates have gone up in recent time. The ongoing fight between the US administration and leading US universities have also led to drop in Indian student enrolments.
Sources in the know said that though the impact of restricted migration rules have been eased a bit after lobbying by the US tech firms, the policy direction is unlikely to change under Trump administration.
Notably, American technology firms like Meta, Google, Apple, Microsoft, Oracle and others have been the major beneficiaries of H1B visa programme. Around 70 per cent of all H-1B visa quota, that facilitates Indian techies to work in the US, are availed by the US tech giants and big startups.
Meanwhile, hiring in GCCs (Global Capability Centres) of foreign firms remains steady as more work gets executed from Indian technology centres.
