Washington : India has expressed concern over the
hike in visa fee by the US, saying it is "discriminatory" and largely
affects Indian IT professionals.
During a bilateral meeting with
US Trade Representative Ambassador Michael Froman, finance minister Arun
Jaitley also underlined the need for early conclusion of Totalisation
Agreement which would benefit Indians working in America.
Representational image. Reuters
Referring
to the visa issue, he spoke about "India's concern over the hike in the
H-1B and L1 visa fee, which is discriminatory and in effect is largely
targeted at Indian IT companies."
Last year, the US Congress
imposed a special fee of up to $4,500 on H-1B and L-1 visas -- popular
among Indian IT companies -- to fund a 9/11 healthcare Act and biometric
tracking system.
While agreeing on the $1.1 trillion spending
Bill, Congressional leaders decided to impose a special fee of $4,000 on
certain categories of H-1B visas and $4,500 on L-1 visas.
Jaitley
expressed India's keenness in early conclusion of a Totalisation
Agreement with the United States, a finance ministry statement quoting
him said.
As per Industry estimates, Indian professionals
contributed more than $25 billion to the US Social Security during the
last decade, without being able to retrieve their contributions.
The
US has entered into agreements called 'Totalization Agreements' with
several nations for the purpose of avoiding double taxation of income
with respect to social security taxes.
Under these, professionals
of both the countries would be exempted from social security taxes when
they go to work for a short period in the other country. The two
countries are also engaged in negotiations for a Bilateral Investment
Treaty to protect investments.
The finance minister emphasised on
sustained engagement and a rapidly increasing trade and investment
partnership between India and the US as key elements, saying India looks
forward to strengthening and deepening this economic engagement.
Jaitley
is currently on an official trip to Washington DC to attend the Spring
Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank and
other sessions.
He is accompanied by RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, Economic Affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das, and chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian and other officials.