Microsoft proposes $10,000 fee for new category H1B visa
01 Oct 2012
US software giant Microsoft Corporation has suggested a whopping $10,000 fee for IT companies wanting to employ expatriates on a new category H-1B visas and $15,000 for a new category permanent residency visa, or Green Card.
If accepted, the proposal that adds over Rs5,00,000 per person in visa fees could hit Indian IT companies the hardest while leaving the US government richer by $5 billion over a 10-year period.
These visas, however, would be restricted to science and technology areas (science, technology, engineering and math), which is more commonly known as STEM and the maximum intake under the new visas would be 20,000 a year.
Brad Smith, general counsel and executive vice president, legal and corporate affairs of Microsoft, revealed the proposal at a brainstorming session in Washington last week.
The money thus raised, could be used to raise funds for STEM education programmes within the United States, according to the proposal.
This could also provide additional resources to recruit and train STEM teachers, broaden access to computer science in high schools and expand higher education capacity to produce more STEM degrees, Smith said.