Indian IT giants' H-1B approvals fall nearly 40% to 11,041
Indian IT giants like TCS, Wipro, HCL, Tech Mahindra, Cognizant, and Infosys just saw their H-1B visa approvals fall nearly 40% this year, down to 11,041 from 18,469 last year.
This means fewer opportunities for Indian tech talent to work in the US.
US adds H-1B $100,000 fee, lottery
New US immigration rules are making things tougher: a hefty $100,000 annual fee on new H-1B petitions and a new lottery system that favors higher salaries have made it harder for these companies to get visas for entry-level hires.
While Infosys actually managed to increase its approvals (up to 3,195), others like TCS and Wipro faced drops of more than 50%.
To adapt, many firms are now building teams in places like Canada and Eastern Europe instead.
Existing visa holders are not seeing much disruption yet (extension approval rates remain strong), but landing new visas is definitely more challenging.