Infosys #1 In H1B Visa Denials As 59% Applications Rejected In 2020; TCS Has Least Rejections

The highest number of H-1b visa denials have been received by Infosys, India’s second-largest IT provider, and the number is as high as 59%. This rate was only 2% back in 2015.

The lowest of denial rates is of Tata Consultancy Services, with 15% H-1b visa denied.

Read on for all the details!

Infosys’ H-1b Visa Denials Largest At 59%, Followed By Cognizant At 52%

The data has been revealed by a report by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP). This report is an analysis of the top 25 employers for the first two quarters of the FY20 made by the think tank of the immigration policy. 

59% of H-1b petitions for new employees of Infosys were denied between the time period of October and March 2020 quarter. This is as compared to the same period five years ago.

In the report, Stuart Anderson, Executive Director, NFAP said, “The highest denial rates continue to be for companies that provide information technology or other business services to American companies. The data indicate USCIS has established a different standard for deciding cases for companies that provide information technology (IT) services.”

Denial Rates Highest Under Administration Of Trump 

The report establishes that the denial rates have jumped especially under the Trump administration, which makes it quite hard for companies to hire foreigners. This is evident from the denial rate of Infosys’ H-1b petitions in 2015, which was 2% only.

Coming in close is cognizant, whose H-1B petitions denied were 52% in FY20, which was only 8% five years ago. Next in line is Wipro with 39% H-1B visa petitions denied in FY20 from 8% in FY15. 

Capgemini stands at 33%, whereas Tech Mahindra’s denial rate of H-1b visa petitions stands at 32%, and this has gone up from being between 1% and 7 % in FY15. HCL Technologies saw an increase in the denial rate at 37% in 2020, observing a huge hike from 2% in 2015.

The only exception is Tata Consultancy Service, at only 15%, the lowest of all the Indian IT service provider companies.

The Indian IT companies have observed a huge hike in the denials, especially when compared to their US counterparts. For example, US’ Amazon and Google, who heavily rely on foreign workers, have a denial rate of 15% only, which was 1% in FY15. Whereas, those of Microsoft, Facebook, and Apple have a denial rate of 12 percent, 7 percent and 9 percent respectively, which was 0-2% denial rate in FY15.

As a result, Indian IT services firms stepped up their localisation efforts. Currently, close to 60 percent of their workforce in the US are local.

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