Indian IT industry body Nasscom highlighted that few employees transition from H-1B visas to permanent residency through the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) process.

This response comes in the wake of the US government's announcement that it will not take any new PERM applications from Indian technology companies including TCS, Infosys, Wipro, and HCLTech.

“Indian technology companies operate across more than 80 countries and have consistently demonstrated their commitment to complying with local laws and regulatory requirements. We are confident that they will continue to adhere to applicable regulations in the US as well,” a statement from Nasscom said.

Indian IT companies have historically been the largest recipients of H-1B visas and have come under attack from successive governments for supposedly displacing US citizens from work opportunities.

Nasscom pointed that Indian technology companies have significantly reduced their dependence on H-1B visas, while steadily expanding local hiring and building a strong domestic workforce in the U.S. It also added that Indian IT companies are closely engaged with Fortune 500 corporations to drive their innovation agenda. "The number of employees transitioning from H-1B visas to permanent residency through the PERM process is also relatively limited," the body said.

Nasscom has consistently maintained that immigration and skilled talent mobility are two distinct issues and should not be viewed through the same lens. H-1B visas is a six year work visas which is used to address the skill shortage gap in the US

TCS said its PERM applications were in single digits in the last two years and does not expect suspension of the programm to impact its workforce strategy and customer engagements.

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