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00:00Another big news that's been making the headlines is the H-1B visa.
00:05And after a lot of confusion over what the U.S. visa fee height means,
00:09the Trump administration has clarified that the $1,000,000 fee will be a one-time requirement.
00:15Trump said that this is to push companies to hire American workers.
00:19The move comes even as India and the U.S. are locked in crucial trade talks
00:23and Commerce Minister Piers Goyal is in Washington today hoping to push forward the negotiations.
00:28Let's listen to what U.S. President Donald Trump had to say on the new H-1B visas.
00:33Let's listen in.
00:35The country would rather not have to pay $100,000.
00:40But they'd rather, how do you do that? You hire American.
00:44So there's an incentive to hire American.
00:46But there may be instances where it's better off doing it through expertise or whatever it may be.
00:51But they're both unbelievable, whether it's a gold card or anything else that we talked about today.
00:58All right. So that's the word coming from the U.S. President Donald Trump on H-1B visas.
01:06But moving on, to discuss the matter further, we are now joined by Ajay Sharma, who is an immigration expert.
01:12Rohit Sharma, who is the chairperson of Global Opportunities and also an immigration expert.
01:18And alongside them, we have Alison Kranz, who is the managing partner at Lothro Legal Immigration Expert.
01:23Hi, everyone. Very good morning. Thank you so much for joining us this morning.
01:27Ajay, let me start with you.
01:29You know, there's a lot of dependence when it comes to Indian companies on H-1B visas.
01:35Now, what happens to that on-site dream?
01:40Well, to start with, this is just part of the normal process, I call it.
01:46It's been happening over decades.
01:48So there is no need to be pessimistic, clean and simple.
01:52The whole world is a global village, you know.
01:55And there are enough opportunities available in the whole of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, UK.
02:02So anybody who is on H-1B and feeling disheartened, first of all, this is just part of the changeover process.
02:07And maybe this particular news flow will absolutely turn in the next few months' time once the trade talks are over.
02:15But beyond that, there's a whole world outside of USA which is waiting for Indian scales to come in and take over.
02:25That means almost whole of Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Indian countries.
02:30You name it and you can go in there.
02:31All right, so that's the view that Ajay is giving.
02:40But Rohit, let me come to you for this one.
02:43The recent announcement, now the clarification has come in that this is a one-time fee.
02:47But nonetheless, this big American dream, does that become a big nightmare for Indians who have been wanting to work in the U.S. firms?
02:56And also, what is America's loss is now going to be India's gain, the talent, the brain drain that we have been witnessing on account of the talent going across the U.S.
03:05Now, that might come back.
03:07Firstly, how will that impact the Indian talent coming back?
03:11And also, what is the impact going to be on the Indian IT companies that sends people in numbers to these companies globally?
03:21Yes, to start with, as regard to this development, this concern, it obviously is a nightmare for people who are wanting to make U.S. their workplace and subsequently their home as well, following H-1B regulations.
03:41But what happens, you know, as regard to Indian gain is there when you were talking about, then this talent which was actually trying to secure as much of their life in U.S., the research and development we talk about, we talk about the various innovations that these IT professionals are doing in U.S.
03:59Now, they can start even looking up, you know, making a base in their own country, specifically to the startups and the new innovation and new projects that they would like to make in India.
04:09Having said so, it is easy said than done.
04:12As regard to Indian IT companies that are concerned, yes, again, it's a challenge for them because, you know, to have a fee which is almost 6,500 percent, the fees raised, which is almost equal to 80 percent of the salary, what they are actually to, do they actually pay to a mid-engineer?
04:33So, you can understand the kind of impact on the IT companies, so difficult for them to employ these people there in U.S.
04:40Then what happens, you know, they can start looking at having as much of offshore, you know, placement rather than having this placement in U.S.
04:51They can start looking at various destinations to place these executives and also not to forget that this H-1B U.S.
04:58visa regulation is not just talking about Indian companies.
05:01Now, they are U.S.-based companies which hire, you know, these Indian professionals while sitting in U.S.
05:06They hire these Indian professionals to work and live in U.S.
05:10So, they can also start looking at opportunities or the places, you know, where most of these people are now working locally while they are being taken care of, while their projects have been taken care of in U.S.
05:22So, you know, it's a situation for not only Indian companies but the U.S.-based companies as well, but these are the developments which also can, you know, globalize the entire system, you know,
05:38where people who just travel to U.S., they can start looking at base in India, people who are U.S. companies, they start looking, creating base for people outside U.S.
05:49That is where we stand as you want to say, yeah.
05:54Alison, like Rohit was mentioning, correct, right, thanks Rohit for that view, but Alison, coming to you now, like Rohit was mentioning,
06:03it's not just about Indian companies that send people, you know, on-site to America but also U.S. companies hire.
06:09But now with this increased fee, do you think, I mean, you know, provided the number of people who are sent to U.S. from India reduces,
06:17do you think U.S. can really do without so many Indian engineers being on-site over there?
06:25Well, I just want to offer a bit of perspective too.
06:27So this particular proclamation only applies to the H-1B visa.
06:31That's one type of work visa.
06:32The U.S. actually has a variety of different types of work visas that are available to Indian nationals,
06:38especially ones that are transferring from an Indian firm to a U.S. subsidiary or partner.
06:43For example, the L-1 intercompany transfer visa is a great alternative solution to the H-1B.
06:50And so I think that that's really important to keep in mind, that there are other opportunities,
06:55and now is the time to explore that.
06:57Right now firms in the United States have been made aware by their lawyers and by the local news and media.
07:03Now is not the time for quick decisions.
07:05Now is the time to actually get clarification, explore some of these other options,
07:08and wait for legal challenges because this will be a challenge in the courts about whether this move is actually legal
07:15or if this is an overreach.
07:17So all of these are very important to keep in mind in making decisions about one's own future, your company,
07:23or if you're in a position of leadership, the decision that your companies are making going forward.
07:29All right, on that note, Ajay, Rohit, and Alison, thank you so much for taking the time out and joining us this morning.
07:37We will have to skip into a short break.
07:38After the break, we'll get you more updates on the other side.
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