DC Edit | H-1B Visa Fee Hike A Big Blow To India-US Ties
The move may not have been as draconian as commerce secretary Lutnick, a known hawk with an animus against India, made it out to be while causing enormous disruption in the lives of H-1B visa holders and their companies in the US, which figure prominently among the top 10 globally by market capitalisation
There are just so many straws that a camel can carry on its back. It appears that the US President Donald Trump is severely testing those limits. In his latest proclamation that sent tsunami-like waves across the global technology landscape over the weekend, Trump did to Indians, who take more than two-thirds of the 85,000 visas from the annual US H-1B lottery to live and work in the United States, what he did to the Mexicans with the Wall and to Central and Latin Americans with his banishment orders.
The move may not have been as draconian as commerce secretary Lutnick, a known hawk with an animus against India, made it out to be while causing enormous disruption in the lives of H-1B visa holders and their companies in the US, which figure prominently among the top 10 globally by market capitalisation. The extortionate $1,00,000 fee (nearly Rs 90 lakh) is only a one-time fee on fresh applications, the White House said in clarification.
The damage to India-US ties may, however, be enormous, regardless of what a Janus-faced US President may seem to have said in the terms of endearment he used about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his nation. With the bogged-down trade talks set to resume, what Trump has done is being explained away as typical pressure tactics of a real estate mogul who has become a transactional US President.
India has, however, nothing to offer as a salve to the broken dreams of millions of young Indians who may have been hoping to clutch those work visas and earn a living and make a life in the land of opportunity. To say this new fee is “likely to have humanitarian consequences” is an understatement. Never mind that the hike is only going to be prospective and does not apply to present visa holders. Just imagine the uncertainties in the lives of aspirants and the anxieties in family members who are in the US as dependents on H-4 visas now.
All the optimism of last week in which Trump posted positive messages on India, its PM and the trade deal may have been snatched in one fell swoop. Middle- and lower-income level IT workers may have had their dreams dashed forever since it is a stretch to believe any intending American employer would pay these high fees and still recruit them. What millions of Indians did in driving innovation and competitiveness in helping the American economy to grow can only be spotted in the rearview mirror now.
It may be the right of sovereign nations to shape their immigration system, but the abrupt way in which this was done hits directly at India even as Prime Minister Modi speaks on the dependence on other nations being India’s main adversary. Even in this globalised world it is possible to believe in self-reliance, but that would mean building an ecosystem which will serve the interests of the youth of today, especially in creating an environment in which satisfying jobs will be available in plenty as we go forward in AI-directed times that could see jobs shrink.
In standing up to Trump after secondary sanctions took the tariffs on India to 50 per cent and signalling from China with the Chinese and Russian Presidents, India may have elicited a placatory response from Trump. But, after this H-1B visa fee hike, things are back to square one. India may have some hard choices to make, including in not crossing any of the red lines in the hunt for a trade deal with Trump’s USA.
