TCS, Infosys Among IT Stocks Under Pressure Post Trump's H-1B Visa Fee Hike

Information technology companies' stocks registered a knee-jerk reaction on Monday after US President Donald Trump imposed a higher $100,000 fee for new H-1B visas as a one-time payment. 

Stocks of Infosys Ltd., Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., HCL Technologies Ltd., Oracle Financial Services Software Ltd. all fell at the start of the trading session.

Infosys Ltd. declined the most as it fell 3.78% to trade lower at Rs 1,482, second biggest laggard was HCL Tech which fell as much as 3.57% to trade at Rs 1,415. Meanwhile, Oracle declined as much as 1.75% to trade at Rs 8,860 apiece and the Tata Consultancy Services' share price fell 0.61% intraday.

Trump's proclamation applies to new visa applicants going forward. The fee of $100,000 is on an application basis, not on a per-year basis. Generally, once approved, H-1B visas are valid for three years and can be extended up to three years, Morgan Stanley said.

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In the same light, five IT companies, including Coforge, Persistent, Mphasis have informed investors that there will be no material impact of Donald Trump's recently announced $100,000 fee for H-1B visa applications.

These companies have released exchange filings detailing the potential impact of the steep increase in H-1B visa fees. They have confirmed to the exchanges that the steep increase will have no material or significant impact, with many highlighting reduced reliance on the visa programme and increased local hiring.

Moreover, economist at Emkay Global believe that the H-1B shock from the Trump administration and increasing uncertainty about US immigration policy could accelerate India's rapid move towards Global Capability Centres (GCCs) and lift GCC exports as a share of India's total services exports over time.