H1B Bill tabled in US Congress, Indian IT companies' stocks crash
January 31, 2017  13:24
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Just in: A legislation has been introduced in the US House of Representatives which among other things calls for more than doubling the minimum salary of H-1B visa holders to USD 130,000, making it difficult for firms to use the programme to replace American employees with foreign workers, including from India.Stocks of Indian IT companies crash by between 5 and 10 per cent.


After the new US president banned refugees and travellers from seven predominantly Muslim countries, Trump's next step -- the H1B visa bill --  strikes closer to home.


A legislation has been introduced in the US House of Representatives which among other things calls for more than doubling the minimum salary of H-1B visa holders to $130,000, making it difficult for firms to use the programme to replace American employees with foreign workers, including from India.


The High-Skilled Integrity and Fairness Act of 2017 introduced by California Congressman Zoe Lofgren prioritises market based allocation of visas to those companies willing to pay 200 per cent of a wage calculated by survey, eliminates the category of lowest pay, and raises the salary level at which H-1B dependent employer are exempt from non displacement and recruitment attestation requirements to greater than $130,000.


This is more than double of the current H-1B minimum wage of $60,000 which was established in 1989 and since then has remained unchanged.
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