Seeking to ally misapprehensions on the H-1 B visas, Nasscom, the repressentative body of Indian IT software and services industry, on Wednesday, has sought a meeting with the two US Senators to discuss the issue.
The association, in a statement, has termed the proposed Immigration Bill by the Senators as a protectionist measure that will affect the Indian IT companies as it would result in the reduction of H1-B holders going to the US and thereby reduce the competitiveness of the IT industry in the US.
Issuing the statement on behalf of the nine Indian companies to Senators Durbin and Grassley, Nasscom said it was hopeful that the US will not specifically penalise non-US firms and continue to promote free and fair trade so that the Indian knowledge-based service companies could too floursh as part of a broader US-India engagement.
Observing that H-1B visa holders paid taxes, social security and made significant contributions to the local and national economy, Nasscom said, both Nasscom and its member companies would support and cooperate with the Senators on the larger issue of visa fraud, while echoing the Senators’ belief that any fraudulent activity should be dealt with in the strict est possible manner.
In this regard, Nasscom, sought to drawn the attention to the significant contributions made by H-1B visa holders to innovation and entrepreneurship in the US which has resulted in job creation on a cale that is widely recognised, though not properly quantified.

Displacing US staff
Senators Grassley and Durbin in their letter, dated May 14, to nine Indian companies including Infosys, Wipro and TCS, asked them to disclose details of their workforce. They said they had reason to believe that companies are using the H1-B visa to displace qualified American workers.
The letter had sparked sharp reaction from the Indian government and Commerce Minister Kamal Nath had raised the issue of the two lawmakers writing directly to the companies with United States Trade Representative (USTR) Susan Schwab at a G-4 meeting in Brussels.