IT stocks face selling pressure, tank up to 6% over tightening H-1B visa norms

New Delhi: IT stocks declined up to 6 per cent Friday due to concerns over tightening of H1-B visa norms. Shares of Infosys dropped 3.11 per cent, TCS fell by 0.55 per cent and Wipro softened by 0.29 per cent on the BSE.
Among others, HCL Technologies slumped 6.16 per cent and Tech Mahindra tanked by 3.98 per cent. "IT sector witnessed profit-booking on concerns of tightening H1-B visa," said Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services.

The Trump led administration has said it is planning to "revise" the definition of employment and specialty occupations under the H-1B visas by January, a move which will have an adverse impact on the Indian IT companies in the US and small and medium-sized contractual firms mostly owned by Indian-Americans.

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The H-1B visa, most sought-after among Indian IT professionals, is a non-immigrant visa that allows the US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.