Terming the hike in visa fee as ‘discriminatory’, industry body FICCI on Tuesday said the move will have a negative impact on efforts made by India and the US to build stronger trade ties.
Such legislation will also hamper the growth of the US economy as it will hurt huge tax revenues coming from Indian IT firms, it said. “FICCI feels that the hike in special fee on the popular H-1B and l-1 visas for James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 will hamper the growth of the US economy and will be discriminatory for Indian IT companies,” FICCI said. Almost all Indian IT companies would pay between $8,000 and $10,000 per H-1B visa from April 1, when the next annual H-1B visa filing session starts.