Stricter H-1B Visa approval requirements could be linked to the increased attrition rate of Indian Information Technology (IT) companies after 2017, as per industry experts.
IT firms in India were known to claim the highest H-1B visas in the cap that stands at 65,000 by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Due to increased rate rejection of these visas after President Donald Trump’s "Buy American, Hire American" executive order in 2017, IT firms have felt the brunt of this order.
Between January 2007 and June 2017, there were 34 lakh applications for H-1B visas out of which 21 lakh applications were from India as per a report by India Today. In fiscal year 2014, Indian IT companies claimed around 21,750 visa approvals out of 65,000. In the first quarter of 2019, the denial rate of this temporary work visa has increased to 32 percent.
Among Indian IT companies, Infosys has topped the number of visa rejections with the highest attrition rate with 26 percent rejections at 2,122 non-acceptance for its H-1B visa as per Financial Express. Also, Infosys' annualised consolidated attrition stood at 23.4 percent, up 3 percent from the quarter ended March 2019.
Denial Rate of Initial H-1B Petition (Data via USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub, National Foundation for American Policy)
Fiscal Year | Denial Rate |
FY19 (Q1) | 32% |
FY18 | 24% |
FY17 | 13% |
FY16 | 10% |
FY15 | 6% |
FY14 | 8% |
FY12 | 5% |
FY10 | 8% |
FY09 | 15% |
Denial Rate of Continuing H-1B Petition (Data via USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub, National Foundation for American Policy)
Fiscal Year | Denial Rate |
FY19 (Q1) | 18% |
FY18 | 12% |
FY17 | 5% |
FY16 | 4% |
FY15 | 3% |
FY14 | 3% |
FY12 | 3% |
FY10 | 5% |
FY09 | 6% |
Another hurdle for the companies is issuance of requirement for evidence or RFE. Since the visa is only for skilled professionals for a tenure of three to six years, employing companies have to furnish proofs. It includes employer-employee relationship, duration with nature of work and employee’ qualification.
Data for the first quarter of US fiscal 2019 shows that 60 percent of all completed H-1B cases had been issued RFEs. Of these cases, 39 percent were rejected. It is a significant increase from 38 percent RFEs during FY 2018 as per a report by Economic Times.
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