H-1B visa fee hiked: Will it push US companies to move more jobs to India?

For years, the H-1B work visa has helped US companies bring skilled workers, including thousands of Indians, to the US. But the cost of doing that could soon change sharply.

The US Department of Homeland Security has proposed a $103,265 (Rs 98.65 lakh) fee for new H-1B work visa petitions. This would be in addition to other existing H-1B fees. The proposal is not yet a final rule, but if it takes effect, companies will have a very different calculation to make.

Instead of asking, “How do we move this worker to the US?”, companies could start asking, “Can we do this job from India?”

That is where India’s fast-growing Global Capability Centre (GCC) sector could become important.

A $100,000 QUESTION FOR COMPANIES

The proposed fee is a huge jump from the usual H-1B costs, which are generally in the thousands of dollars.

The Department of Homeland Security estimates that the new fee could bring in about $8.8 billion a year, based on 85,000 H-1B cap-subject petitions.

For a company looking for a software engineer, artificial intelligence specialist, cloud expert or data professional, the choice could become simple: pay more to move the employee to America, or build the team in India instead?

Vimal Dangri, CHRO and General Counsel at Mastek, an enterprise digital and cloud transformation company working with clients across 40 countries, including the US, believes companies could start looking at that option more closely.

“The sharp rise in H-1B costs could make companies reassess where technology work is best delivered,” Dangri says. “For software, AI, cloud and data roles, expanding teams in India could become more economically attractive than relocating talent to the US.”

But he does not expect every job to move.

“The decision will depend on the role’s nature, customer proximity and regulatory requirements,” he says.

INDIA ALREADY HAS THE WORKFORCE

India does not have to build this capability from scratch.

The country has more than 1,700 GCCs and nearly 3,000 GCC units, employing close to 1.9 million professionals, according to Nasscom-Zinnov data.

These centres were once mainly seen as places where companies could get work done at a lower cost. That picture has changed.

Today, Indian GCCs work on artificial intelligence, data, cloud computing, cybersecurity, software and product development. Dangri says they have “moved beyond cost-focused delivery”.

This matters because much of this work can be done online from anywhere in the world.

A software engineer can build a product from Bengaluru. A data scientist can develop an artificial intelligence model from Hyderabad. A cloud team in Pune can manage systems used by customers in the US.

The worker does not always need to be sitting in America for the work to happen.

WHICH JOBS COULD COME TO INDIA?

The answer depends largely on how easily a job can be done remotely.

Dangri believes roles in software engineering, artificial intelligence, data, cloud and product development are among those most likely to be expanded in India.

“Roles that can be delivered digitally are most likely to move to India,” he said.

However, jobs that depend heavily on being physically close to customers, regulators or specific locations are less likely to move.

That means the H-1B work visa changes are unlikely to suddenly send every US technology job to India. Instead, companies could gradually build larger India-based teams for work that does not require employees to be physically present in the US.

BENGALURU, HYDERABAD AND PUNE COULD BENEFIT

If that happens, India’s established technology centres could see more demand.

Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune already have large technology and GCC ecosystems. Nasscom data shows that Indian GCCs are increasingly working in areas such as generative artificial intelligence, MLOps, cybersecurity, cloud engineering and digital engineering.

At the same time, India’s IT industry is already relying less on sending workers to the US through H-1B work visas.

Nasscom recently said Indian IT companies have increased their US-based workforce while reducing their dependence on H-1B workers over the past five years.

That points to a broader change: companies can have a strong presence in the US without moving every employee there.

THE BIGGER SHIFT: MOVE THE WORK, NOT THE WORKER

This may be the most important part of the H-1B debate for India.

“The bigger shift could be from moving Indian talent to the US to moving more high-value work to India,” Dangri said.

He expects companies could build larger India-based teams across engineering, artificial intelligence, data, cloud and product functions.

How many jobs could this create?

There is no reliable number yet. Dangri says it is “difficult to put a precise job number on this today.”

And that is an important point. A higher H-1B work visa fee does not automatically mean companies will move jobs to India. Decisions will still depend on customer needs, data rules, security requirements and the nature of the work.

But the direction is worth watching.

If moving an Indian worker to America becomes dramatically more expensive, companies may find another way to access the same talent: leave the worker in India and move more of the work there.

For India’s GCC ecosystem, that could turn an American immigration restriction into an unexpected jobs opportunity.

– Ends