‘Why do you need to move to US?’: Sanjeev Sanyal says India must stop trading leverage for H-1B visas

H-1B visas may be a lifeline for Silicon Valley, but for India they’re a bad bargain. That’s the blunt view of Sanjeev Sanyal, member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, who says long-term visas like the H-1B “primarily benefit the recipient country” and should never be a negotiating priority for India.

Speaking at a Moneycontrol event, Sanyal argued that Indian negotiators should stop lobbying for more U.S. work permits. 

“If you are in the IT industry that claims you can work from anywhere, then surely you can do the work from India. Why do you need to move there?” he said. “These kinds of visas primarily benefit the recipient country. How it benefits us has always been unclear to me.”

Sanyal added that India’s reforms must stand on their own, not hinge on the return of H-1B workers. 

“We should accelerate reforms irrespective of this business of H-1B. We should be doing it because it’s a good thing to do for residents.”

His comments come just days after President Donald Trump unveiled a $100,000 application fee for new H-1B petitions — a move that rattled Indian workers and U.S. tech giants alike.

According to Business Insider, 20 global tech firms account for the bulk of H-1B approvals, with Amazon (15,043), Microsoft (6,043), Meta (5,124), Alphabet (4,319), and Apple (4,253) among the biggest users. Indian IT services majors like Infosys, TCS, Wipro, and HCLTech also rely heavily on the program.

While many Indian professionals see H-1B as a pathway to opportunity, Sanyal insists the equation is skewed. “Why are we giving this up as a negotiating point? If anything, they should be negotiating with us,” he said.