IT cos bet on near-shoring as H1B blues deepen
Many of the visa interviews scheduled for January 2026 have been pushed to September
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Bengaluru: IT firms and GCCs (Global Capability Centres) are resorting to near-shoring and deployment of sub-contractors for executing projects in the US as sending professionals to America becomes difficult. According to sources in the know, many mid-tier & small companies have stopped applying for H1B visas owing to the high entry fee and inordinate delay in visa approval by the US authorities.
Due to these factors, near-shoring is being done by many companies for the project work emanating from the US. In near-shoring, IT project work gets done from a nearby geography, which is in the same time zone. For the US, Mexico and Canada are considered as near-shore centres.
“We have not faced any issues due to H1B visa related developments yet. Because, much of our work is getting done from near-shore centres. We have a good presence in LATAM (Latin America) region,” Sonali Kochar, Senior Vice President- Digital Experience of Encora told the Bizz Buzz. The US-headquartered company has more than 5,000 people in India and many important R&D work gets done from India.
Meanwhile, experts also pointed out that many Indian IT firms have stopped applying for H1B visas altogether because of the high entry fee and delay in processing applications. “What we are hearing from our clients that many have stopped applying for h1B visas. Because of the cost, many companies are careful about sending people on such route,” Aditya Narayan Mishra, CEO of HR consultancy firm, CIEL HR has told theBizz Buzzearlier.
Reports started appearing that the US visa applications are facing undue delays as the authorities are following a restrictive approach towards new approvals. Many of the visa interviews scheduled for January 2026 have been pushed forward to September, reports said.
Under Trump, the US administration has introduced a visa fee of $100,000 for new entrants coming to the US under the H1B visa route.
Such expensive fees have discouraged many IT companies to send professionals to the US unless critical. Many are deploying subcontractors for executing project work as it turns out to be cost effective option than sending people on H1B visa route.
