'Wage-weighted' US visa plan is legally dodgy, disruptive'

IT industry body Nasscom has termed the US government's move to replace the H-1B work visa lottery with a new "wage-weighted" system as legally questionable, economically flawed, and operationally disruptive.In response to consultations by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Nasscom warned that the new system creates geographic and sectoral inequality. For instance, an employee at Level 2 wage in New York could be placed higher than Level 4 in Iowa, it said.There are also possibilities to game the system; it might encourage inflated salaries on paper to get more lottery entries, Nasscom said."For nearly two decades, US employers have structured their hiring cycles, budgeting, and project timelines around the existing random lottery framework. A sudden shift to a wage-weighted model would upend these long-standing expectations," Rajesh Nambiar, president, Nasscom, said in a written submission to the DHS on October 30, a copy of which was seen by ET. He said companies plan recruitment months in advance, coordinating with clients, academic calendars, and product release cycles. "Introducing variable selection probabilities based on fluctuating wage formulas would add layers of compliance complexity," he added.