Mid-cap IT services firms appear reasonably cushioned from the steep escalation in H-1B visa fees announced by the US administration earlier this year, a move that sent tremors through the broader tech outsourcing industry. The revised structure has pushed filing charges for new petitions to as high as $100,000, prompting anxiety over the cost and viability of maintaining large onsite workforces. Yet, commentary from midcap firms through the second quarter earnings suggests the exposure is far less direct than initially feared.
Tech Mahindra, which has been gradually re-balancing talent towards offshore and nearshore centres, said that its dependence on the H-1B channel is structurally low. The company said that less than 1% of its global workforce is currently on H-1B visas and that US visa dependence is under 30%. Managing director and chief executive Mohit Joshi described the situation as “manageable” and pointed to a three-pronged approach already underway — identifying and safeguarding critical onsite talent roles, deepening local hiring pipelines within the US, and expanding delivery presence in neighbouring markets such as Canada, Mexico and Brazil. This networked nearshore model serves both cost optimisation and continuity planning.
According to industry research firms, the shift is not sudden. The rise of global capability centres (GCC) in India has changed the operating dynamic for many US enterprises, reducing reliance on visa-enabled travel. These company-owned centres often collaborate closely with Indian system integrators, creating distributed delivery chains that are inherently less sensitive to US immigration rules. “American companies have been investing in setting up GCCs in the country, which work closely with system integrators on Indian shores. This further insulates them from H1-B dependence,” Pareekh Jain, chief executive at tech research firm EIIRTrend told Fe.
Analysts and staffing specialists also underline that the revised fee structure applies primarily to new petitions, giving firms time to adjust before the changes take full effect around April 2026. For midcaps that already maintain higher offshore intensity, this window allows further calibration of hiring and talent deployment without abrupt disruption.
Mphasis echoed the sentiment of limited near-term exposure. Chief Executive Nitin Rakesh said clients with their own centres and visa-ready workforces have not expressed concern so far, while also acknowledging the need to further strengthen supply chains against H-1B volatility over the next two years.
Meanwhile, large-cap peers such as Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Wipro and HCLTech have been methodically reducing visa reliance since challenges around H-1B processing intensified in 2018. “The conversation around (challenges in obtaining) H-1B visas started back in 2018, and since then, the industry has seen multiple macro headwinds like the global pandemic and the slowdown in BFSI. So, IT firms have had to adapt,” Neeti Sharma, chief executive, TeamLease Digital said.
TCS, for instance, indicated in its latest quarterly call that it expects to require only about 500 H-1B visas this year, compared with over 5,000 in the previous year, underscoring a structural pivot toward local and nearshore talent pools.