New Delhi: National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) today (Feb 18, 2004) said that the US decision to limit visas for skilled workers to 65,000 would not have any impact on the Indian IT industry in the immediate future, but said the American move was against the spirit of free trade.

Immediately, the limit of 65,000 would have no impact but if it is prolonged beyond October 2004, there could be some problems. "We hope the artificial restriction of 65,000 is lifted from October 2004 when the current fiscal year under consideration comes to an end," Nasscom President Kiran Karnik said.

Karnik's remarks come in the wake of US Immigration Office saying that it already had enough applications to fill all the available slots till October 1 for the H-1B visa under which US companies hire foreign workers for a certain period.

Indian top-tier IT companies have enough workers with H-1B visas to sustain them over the next few months. Such a low cap of 65,000 would lead to artificial restrictions and the move is not good and against free trade, Karnik said.

The H-1B visas came down to 65,000 in October 2003 from the earlier 195,000 in October 2000.

Most Indian software companies depend on H-1B visas to send their skilled workers to the client's premises in the US.

Critics of outsourcing see this as a move towards sending low-cost workers to the US, which take away jobs of the local people.