The US Senate has passed the Border Security Bill that seeks to fund the US-Mexico border security through H1B and L-1 visa fees. The Senate Democrats? border security proposal would increase the visa fees by roughly $2,000 per visa application, double of what one permit costs at present. The Bill, introduced by Democratic senators Chuck Schumer and Claire McCaskill, will raise the expenses of Indian IT firms. Nasscom president Som Mittal tells FE?s Goutam Das about the body?s role ahead on the issue. Excerpts:

The protectionist wave in the US seems to be unending. Has the visa fee hike come as a surprise?

We should be aware that there are elections in November and they have major issues on how US protects its southern-Mexican borders. As they need fund for the security of the border, visa fee hike was the easiest option as it did not impact the US. Since the fees were not paid by American companies, there was no resistance. The Bill was quite rushed.

What does Nasscom plan to do now?

The Bill will be presented in the House on Tuesday. The House of Representatives is meeting on an emergency basis to clear a few Bills and this is one of them. Then it will go to the President. Our suggestion is, if the US need funds, they can increase H1 L1 fees. But they should be at a lower rate and across the board ? not only for companies with a 50-50 rule (companies with more than 50 US employees and whose 50% of the workforce in US is made up of H-1B or L-1 visa holders). We don?t know how this will go. We are keeping out fingers crossed.

Senator Chuck Schumer had earlier spoken about an outsourcing tax. Have you met him?

We have been in touch with him. He is a very senior senator, head of the judiciary committee for Democrats. We met his staff. In the past, we have had discussions with many of the senators in the US. But I suppose they had to find some funding and therefore rushed this through. I am sure they have surprised themselves that this got through without any debate. There is work that is going on. There are various associations in the US who are working on this. And our government would be working with the administration there. So let?s see?

Have you raised the issue at the Centre?

The government is alert to any issue that happens anywhere. MEA and commerce ministry are engaged in this.