Trump's H-1B visa crackdown upends Indian IT industry's playbook

Source: Reuters

September 21, 2025 11:05 AM EDT Updated 8 hours ago


BENGALURU, Sept 21 (Reuters) - India's $283 billion information technology sector will have to overhaul its decades-old strategy of rotating skilled talent into U.S. projects following U.S. President Donald Trump's move to impose a $100,000 fee for new H-1B visas from Sunday, according to tech veterans, analysts, lawyers and economists.

The sector, which earns about 57% of its total revenue from the U.S. market, has long gained from U.S. work visa programs and the outsourcing of software and business services -- a contentious issue for many Americans who have lost jobs to cheaper workers in India.

India was by far the largest beneficiary of H-1B visas last year, accounting for 71% of approved beneficiaries, while China was a distant second at 11.7%, according to U.S. government data.

Trump's move to reshape the H-1B program will force IT firms with clients such as Apple (AAPL.O), JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N), Walmart (WMT.N), Microsoft (MSFT.O), Meta (META.O) and Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google to pause onshore rotations, accelerate offshore delivery, and ramp up hiring of U.S. citizens and green card holders, experts said.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/trumps-h-1b-visa-crackdown-upends-indian-it-industrys-playbook-2025-09-21/