The recent announcement from two major Indian tech companies may be a blow to techies chasing the “American dream.” Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and HCL Technologies are scaling back their reliance on H-1B visas.
TCS CEO K. Krithivasan recently stated that the company is no longer planning to hire additional H-1B workers. He explained that they already have enough employees on the visa in the US.
He further mentioned that TCS’s original approach had always been to rotate employees on H-1B visas, bringing them back after their assignments or replacing them with local talent.
“We are focused on increasing our local workforce,” Krithivasan added, noting that any decisions on renewing visas would be made when necessary.
Similarly, HCL Technologies is adjusting its approach in response to the uncertainty created by the recent $100,000 fee hike on H-1B visas.
The company’s Managing Director, C. Vijayakumar, stated the impact of these changes but added that HCL has long been working to reduce its dependence on visas.
“We’ve been strengthening our global delivery model over the years to lessen our reliance on visas,” he explained.
TCS, the largest user of H-1B visas in the US, hired 98,259 H-1B workers between 2009 and 2025, including 5,505 in 2025 alone, outpacing major tech giants like Microsoft, Meta, Apple, and Google. In comparison, HCL Technologies had approximately 1,728 H-1B workers as of the first half of fiscal year 2025.
What is $100k H-1B visa fee?
On September 19, 2025, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation raising the annual fee for H-1B work visas to $100,000.White House staff secretary Will Scharf called the H-1B program “one of the most abused” in the current immigration system.
He said the new fee is meant to protect US jobs and prioritise the domestic workforce. The goal, according to the administration, is to ensure the visa program is used only for bringing in truly high-skilled workers and not for replacing American employees.
‘This is the fastest way to get L1 canned’
Netizens posted their opinion on the companies decision. A user noted, “They will hire workers in India for a year, make them waste their time and then ship them to the US on L1.” “Trump can change L1 too. Not hard,” added another.
“This is the fastest way to get L1 canned,” claimed a user. Don’t worry companies will not hesitate exploiting even R visa meant for priests and religious workers,” wrote a netizen. “He just signed the L-1 visa’s death warrant,” added another.
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