INDIA'S tech sector is demanding more liberal US visa rules for software and computer professionals in response to calls by US lawmakers to further limit their entry.
The annual US visa limit of 65,000 for overseas professionals is harming trade in the information technology industry, India's National Association of Software and Service Companies says.
The cap on the so-called H1B visas was reduced from 195,000 two years ago, noted NASSCOM, as the industry lobby group is known. This year, foreign employers snapped up all the visas on the day they were issued.
"Constraining the supply when demand is high gives rise to problems for both US companies as well Indian IT companies," NASSCOM says.
"NASSCOM feels that the cap should be large enough to allow market forces to operate freely," it says.
The H1B visa is an employer sponsored, non-immigrant, temporary work visa for skilled employees.
NASSCOM was reacting to an allegation by US federal lawmakers Charles Grassley and Richard Durbin this week that H1B visas were being misused by foreign employers to disadvantage skilled US citizens.
The two senators have introduced legislation that would overhaul the US work visa program to ensure US workers are protected, and crack down on employers who deprive locals of highly skilled jobs.
"Supporters claim the goal of the H1B program is to help the US economy, allowing companies to hire needed foreign workers," Durbin says.
"The reality is that too many H1B visas are being used to facilitate the outsourcing of US jobs to other countries."
The two senators wrote to nine top Indian IT firms, including software makers Tata Consultancy, Infosys and Wipro, asking them to account for their workforce and how they are using H1B visas, and demanding a reply by May 29.
The nine companies account for 20,000 H1B visas.
Infosys, India's second-largest software maker, is "examining the issue", says a spokeswoman.
Wipro is waiting to receive the letter, a spokeswoman says.