[June 19, 2013] Nasscom lobbies for easing some provisions in US immigration Bill Tweet CHENNAI, Jun 19, 2013 (Mint - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- India's software industry body is lobbying for the easing of some of the provisions in the US immigration Bill that would make it more expensive for domestic information technology (IT) companies to cater to their clients in the North American market. "Be it our customers, US corporations, our government or Nasscom, we are all ensuring that we provide our perspectives to the decision-makers there," said Som Mittal, president of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom). "Nasscom, IT leaders and even the government of India has written to their counterparts in the US," he said at an event conducted by Nasscom on Tuesday. The Bill, if made law, will force companies to file fewer US visa petitions as the cost per application will increase by about $5,000, technology researcher Gartner Inc. said in a report last week. The legislation could also force Indian software exporters to remove professionals on H1B work permits from client locations in the US, their biggest market, as it will increase the wages of such workers by 5-15%, according to the report. The proposal could become law in early 2014 if the Bill is passed by the US Senate. "We have huge concerns on the restrictions proposed in the Senate Bill that restricts our ability to service our customers and create a level-playing field. There will be a huge impact on the customers and the US economy. So the US corporations are batting for us," said Mittal. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd gets a little more than half of its overall business from North America, while Infosys Ltd earns 63% of its total revenue from the region. US-based Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp., which has most of its 162,700 employees in Chennai, gets 79% of its total revenue from North America. Mittal is placing his hopes on a parallel Bill being prepared at the US House of Representatives. "We anticipate the Senate Bill to go through with the restrictions; we hope the House Bill will be more moderate. The two Bills will be compared and there will be negotiations, and we should ensure during that stage that the negative provisions don't come in," he said. "The process will take four-five months; we have enough opportunity to get our viewpoint across." Nasscom expects growth of 12-14% in dollar terms for software exports by Indian IT service companies in 2013-14, and the domestic market to grow at 13-15% in rupee terms. ___ (c)2013 the Mint (New Delhi) Visit the Mint (New Delhi) at www.livemint.com Distributed by MCT Information Services [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]