India moves WTO against US visa fee hike

India is expected to seek consultations with the US under the aegis of the World Trade Organisation (WTO),where it will contest a visa fee hike for professionals, which discriminates against Indian software companies that send employees to America on short-term contracts.

Although the commerce ministry had internally started the process in April, collecting all the relevant information and data to make a strong case in the WTO is taking time, a senior official told PTI.

“But now we have finalised our case. We are putting all the evidences together. The US visa fee hike is a discriminatory move against Indian IT firms. We are expecting that by October end, we will formally file the complaint and seek consultations under WTO,” the official said.

The US had raised visa fees in 2010 to fund its enhanced costs on securing the border with Mexico under the Border Security Act. India has been protesting against the measure at different forums.

An American law (Emergency Border Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2010) has substantially increased the fees for H-1B and L-1 categories of visas for applicants that employ more than 50 employee in the US or have more than 50 per cent of their employees admitted on non-immigrant visas (called the 50/50 rule).

According to industry experts the H1B visa fee has been increased to 2,000$ per visa application while the L1 now costs USD 2,700$ per visa application.

Some top Indian companies including TCS, Infosys, Wipro and Mahindra Satyam have been affected by the US action on visa fee.

The US is the largest market for Indian software exports.

As per WTO procedure, consultation is the first stage of a complaint filed with the global trade body.

Consultations give the parties an opportunity to discuss the matter and to find a satisfactory solution without proceeding further. After 60 days, if consultations fail to resolve the dispute, the complainant may request adjudication by a panel.

Meanwhile, New Delhi and Washington have also completed consultations on other issues in WTO that include avain influenza and steel.

PTI