Indian IT giants' H-1B visa registrations fall amid Trump's crackdown; Infosys, Cognizant, TCS report fewer entries
As US President Donald Trump's administration tightens immigration policies, including a $100,000 fee for certain new H-1B applications and a wage-weighted selection system introduced for fiscal year 2027, H-1B registrations by major IT companies such as Cognizant, Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) have dropped in the FY2027 lottery.
According to data in a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report published on 14 October, Cognizant submitted 100% fewer registrations than in the previous year, while Infosys' registrations declined by 91% and TCS's plunged by 95%.
The report, "H-1B Executive Actions in 2026", comes at a time when the Trump administration has announced changes to H-1B visa selection and fees as the government seeks to prioritise higher-paid workers and address what it calls abuse of the programme.
According to data from US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the company-level figures highlight the scale of the decline. Infosys submitted 759 registrations for FY2027, down from 8,886 in FY2026, while TCS’s total declined to 284 from 5,955. Cognizant recorded no registrations, compared with 3,752 the previous year.
A Federal Register publication dated 23 September 2026 also highlighted the decline, reporting that combined H-1B registrations by the largest IT staffing and outsourcing firms fell by roughly 92%, from 24,946 to 2,055.
The figures cover entries in the annual H-1B cap selection process, rather than the companies’ total H-1B workforce. They do not indicate that current visa holders have lost their immigration status.
According to the CRS report, the wage-weighted selection system, introduced by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in February this year, was used for the FY2027 H-1B lottery. The fiscal year began this month. The weighted selection process is designed to favour highly skilled and higher-paid workers.
Employers have also faced a $100,000 fee introduced last September for certain new H-1B workers entering the US from abroad. In the first eight months after it took effect, initial H-1B petitions requesting consular processing from employers exempt from the annual visa cap fell by 91% compared with the same period a year earlier.
According to a Hindustan Times report, the sharp decline in registrations may indicate that Indian IT firms are changing how they staff US projects, potentially placing greater reliance on workers already in the country, visa extensions, transfers and local recruitment. Infosys, TCS and Cognizant reduced fresh registrations against a backdrop of rising costs and changes to the H-1B selection process.
While the registration figures alone cannot establish the number of jobs lost or how many Indian professionals will ultimately be able to work in the US, they indicate a substantial decline in fresh lottery registrations by some of the largest IT companies employing Indian professionals, despite Indians accounting for the biggest share of H-1B visa holders in the US.
Swati Gandhi is a digital journalist with over four years of experience, specialising in international and geopolitical issues. Her work focuses on foreign policy, global power shifts, and the political and economic forces shaping international relations, with a particular emphasis on how global developments affect India. She approaches journalism with a strong belief in context-driven reporting, aiming to break down complex global events into clear, accessible narratives for a wide readership.<br><br> Previously, Swati has worked at Business Standard, where she covered a range of beats including national affairs, politics, and business. This diverse newsroom experience helped her build a strong grounding in reporting, while also strengthening her ability to work across both breaking news and in-depth explanatory stories. Covering multiple beats early in her career has helped her be informed about her current work, allowing her to connect domestic developments with wider international trends.<br><br> At Live Mint, she focuses on international and geopolitical issues through a business and economic lens, examining how global political developments, foreign policy decisions, and power shifts impact markets, industries, and India’s strategic and economic interests.<br><br> She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English (Honours) from the University of Delhi and a Master’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University. Her academic training has shaped her emphasis on precision, analytical rigour, and clarity in writing. Her interests include global political economy and the intersection of geopolitics with business.<br><br> Outside work, Swati focuses on exploring her passion and love for food. From fancy cafes to street spots, Swati explores food like a true foodie.
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