WASHINGTON: The U.S. Congress has imposed a special fee of up to $4,500 on the H-1B and L-1 visas popular among Indian IT companies to fund a 9/11 healthcare act and biometric tracking system.

Congressional leaders, while agreeing on the $1.1 trillion spending bill, on Wednesday decided to impose a special fee of $4,000 on certain categories of H-1B visas and $4,500 on L-1 visas. The U.S. House of Representative is slated to vote on the $1.1 trillion spending bill deal on Thursday.

The money generated, expected to be more than a billion dollar per annum, would be used to fund a biometric entry and exit tracking system, in addition to funding health screenings and treatments for 9/11 first responders.

According to the agreed bill, the new $4,000 fee would apply to companies having at least 50 employees with 50 percent of their employees on H-1B or L-1 visa. Such companies would have to pay a new fee of $4,000 for H-1B visas and $4,500 for L-1 visas.

While the specific provisions of the spending bill has no mention of Indian IT companies, the language of the bill has been written in such a way that it would have a big impact on Indian IT companies.

Though the lawmakers behind the bill described it as a temporary provision, the new H-1B and L-1 visa fee increase is for a period of 10 years as against a previous provision of five years. The previous such provision from 2010 to 2015 of $2,000 for H-1B visas lapsed on September 30.

In a study released in September this year, NASSCOM, a trade association of Indian IT industry, said Indian IT companies have paid between $70 to $80 million annually for the U.S. Treasury approximately. Given that, the new punitive measure is expected to raise between  $1.4 billion  and $1.6 billion every year for the next one decade. 

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