In a move that could escalate the already strained trade relations between India and the US, the Indian government has lodged a formal complaint with the World Trade organization (WTO) about the unfair immigration policy of the US for Indian nationals. Among the chief grouses are high visa fees and disproportionate rejection rates for Indian visa applications.
A recent survey by the non-partisan National Foundation for American Policy in February 2012 threw up some rather disturbing figures. The rejection rates for Indian visa by the US Immigration authorities has jumped from 3% to over 22% between 2008 and 2009. What made the disparity even more glaring was that, in comparison, other countries showed almost negligible increases or constant rates even though the rates of visa applications was almost the same outside the US as well.
In 2010, the visa fees almost doubled to $4,500 per applicant and the Indian government has apparently decided that it was time to address the issue at a more official and formal level. India's trade minister, Anand Sharma, had already raised the issue with America's commerce secretary, John Bryson.
The worst hit by this inexplicable harsh treatment of visa applications by Indians has been the burgeoning Indian IT sector, the backbone of the Indian outsourcing industry.
Industry watchers and analysts are speculating that the strong US stand could be a retaliation against the Indian ban on the import of American poultry, meat and eggs. Others feel that this new animosity between the two nations could all be a fallout of the ongoing Presidential campaign of Barack Obama in which the anti-outsourcing tirade is his major trump card.
Brain drain immigration is generally always encouraged - to invite skilled foreigners to your country only bolsters the country. So, in the light of this age-old practice, it seems very strange that there has been this sudden U- turn when it comes to outsourcing.
What does this mean for the Indian outsourcing industry? It means that the Indian outsourcing firms who have their development centres in the US will now face a problem in sending their executives there to coordinate and oversee the project. It means that these service providers would have to probably hire locally. But what if the skilled talent isn't available locally? Won't the company and projects suffer further? This ends up being a self defeating exercise.
It means that this could well become be a major roadblock in the smooth flow of work between the two countries and hit the outsourcing industry where it hurts the most.
Its another matter altogether that American technology firms have benefited enormously by outsourcing work to Indian outsourcing companies over the past few decades.
Now it transpires that in a bid to further woo the people with visible proof of coming down heavily on outsourcing practices, the Obama regime has hit at the root of the outsourcing trade. Hike the visa fees, or better still, stall the acceptance of visas itself on whatever flimsy grounds. What Obama and Co. don't realize, unfortunately, is that this move has all the makings of 'cutting one's nose to spite the face'.
