TCS Becomes #2 Recipient of H-1B Visas; Faces New Cost Headwinds

is now the second-largest beneficiary of U.S. H-1B visa approvals in 2025, with over 5,500 approvals, second only to Amazon’s ~10,000. This highlights TCS’s extensive use of skilled foreign talent for its U.S. operations and client-project staffing. Why It Matters The reliance on H-1B visas has long been a strategy for Indian IT firms to access global work, execute cross-border projects, and balance cost with talent constraints. TCS’s position underscores how critical this visa program remains to scaling its revenue base in North America and other international markets. However, rising regulatory costs are now threatening margin headroom. The U.S. has introduced a hefty US$100,000 annual fee per H-1B visa holder. For companies like TCS with thousands of visa approvals, this represents a substantial operational cost increase. Projects that depend heavily on visa-sponsored staffing may become less economically attractive. Beyond costs, TCS and its peers may need to rethink talent models—accelerate the push for hiring locally in the U.S., make greater use of remote or hybrid teams, or increase offshore delivery capabilities to offset rising visa and compliance burdens. Industry Implications Other Indian and global tech firms with high dependence on H-1B staffing—companies like Microsoft, Apple, Google, and Meta—are also likely to be significantly impacted by the new fee regime. The cost structure changes could reshape where work gets done, how contracts are priced, and the competitive dynamics for labor. This also ties into geopolitical and policy risk. Immigration policy is increasingly tied to domestic job protection narratives. Firms using H-1B programs may encounter greater scrutiny, and uncertainty in visa rules or fees adds to investment risk. Source: The Hindu No Recommendations