H-1B visa has come under intense scrutiny in recent times, raising concerns in India, which accounts for nearly 72% of the visa’s beneficiaries. At this juncture, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal made an unexpected admission about how the Indian technology industry views delays in H-1B visa appointments.
In a recent interview with CNBC-TV18, he claimed that fears around the US nonimmigrant work visa may have been blown out of proportion, as industry expectations point to the situation improving in the near term.
‘Industry not perturbed by H-1B restrictions’
“I had discussed this with our Indian industry, and they don’t seem to be perturbed at all about the restrictions on H-1B,” Goyal told CNBC-TV18.
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“They are very confident that wherever they require it, they will get it.” According to Goyal, feedback from industry indicates that the visa regime could, in fact, become more effective over time as non-essential applications are filtered out. “Some people also told me it will become better, because a lot of the fringe applications will go out, and serious players will now be looking for entry of their people into the US to serve high-tech products and high-tech requirements,” he said.
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Goyal noted that the relevance of the H-1B visa has diminished since the COVID-19 pandemic, as global companies adapted to remote and offshore work models.
“Those days are gone. I remember that the H-1B visa process had gradually deteriorated into a lottery,” he said. “If I needed two H-1B visas, I would calculate that only one out of seven applications would succeed. So I would apply for 15 and hope to get two.”
He added that, post-COVID, he has not been approached by any company seeking government intervention with the US for additional H-1B visas. “Second, post-COVID, I have not heard a single company come to me asking to engage with the US or negotiate for more H-1B visas. The world has changed,” Goyal said.
Offshoring trumps high-cost relocation
According to Goyal, companies are increasingly opting to deliver services offshore rather than relocating employees to high-cost economies like the US or the UK. “Instead of struggling to take people from India to the US and paying top-dollar salaries—given the massive difference in cost of living, with per capita income at about $90,000 in the US versus $3,000 in India—the economics no longer make sense,” he said. He pointed out that higher salaries in the US largely fuel consumption within the American economy, whereas offshore delivery models generate benefits for India.
India currently hosts around 1,800 Global Capability Centres (GCCs), a number that continues to grow as multinational companies expand their offshore operations. “When work is outsourced to global capability centers in India, we create jobs here. Our people work, spend, and pay taxes in India, stay with their families, and it also makes businesses more attractive and profitable,” Goyal said. He added that the expanding GCC ecosystem supports domestic income growth, tax collections, investment flows, and foreign exchange earnings, while significantly reducing the need for large-scale employee movement overseas. |
