TCS Pauses New H-1B Visa Hiring in the US Amid Visa Rule Changes

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) recently announced it will cease onboarding new H-1B visa candidates in the United States, marking a significant departure from its hiring approach.

CEO K. Krithivasan made the announcement recently during an interview, highlighting the company’s increasing emphasis on building its local talent base in major global markets.

TCS, a huge US employer in IT, has been the top H-1B visa sponsor for more than a decade. During 2009-2025, Indian IT major hired around 98,259 H-1B workers. In 2025 alone, the firm hired 5,505 H-1B visa seekers, standing above world tech giants like Microsoft, Meta, Apple, and Google.

But Krithivasan added that the company has now reached the point where it no longer has to expand its H-1B numbers.

“We already have sufficient people on H-1 in the US. I don’t think we would be looking for adding to that number anytime now,” he added.

Talking of the renewal of currently held visas, Krithivasan said TCS’s initial strategy was to rotate H-1B staff back and forth between India and America rather than having permanent placements. “Our initial plan was always to send individuals on H-1 with the view to getting them back and to rotating them. So it still had a focus on getting back at the conclusion of the programmes, or rotating them with locals.”. And how much we would renew or whom we would renew is a decision we will take at the right time. We are eager to boost our local participation,” he further added.

The head of TCS further pointed out that the company’s operations in other geographies, Latin America, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific (APAC), already have a significant percentage of local professionals. Now the intention is to adopt this in-house model in the U.S. and Europe as part of the long-term global strategy of the company.

“At the other geographies we are in, such as Latam or Middle East or APAC, we have a very high proportion of local associates, and we are also shifting to see how new AI engagements are going to be executed,” Krithivasan said.

He stressed that the emergence of artificial intelligence and future technologies requires a “very diverse skillset” beyond conventional engineering or coding skills. “They’re going to need much more intimate collaborations with our clients, in terms of the requirements and in terms of the build,” he further added.

TCS strategy is aligned with a general industry trend where global IT service providers are focusing on local hiring to enhance regional operations and meet tighter immigration regulations. By moving away from the H-1B program, TCS hopes to deepen client relationships and integrate more locally in North America and Europe.

Industry observers pointed out that this shift can have a material effect on the future of Indian IT companies’ H-1B visa demand. While the demand for H-1Bs is likely to fall, some analysts foresee a rise in the utilization of L-1 visas, which permit intra-company transfers between worldwide branches. The L-1 visa category could be a preferred choice for TCS and similar companies to keep relocating senior personnel between offices without needing to depend so much on the H-1B regime.

Krithivasan concluded that TCS’s attention will be on developing heterogeneous local teams that can fuel innovation and collaboration in a world that is becoming increasingly driven by artificial intelligence. “Having this in consideration, we would continue to grow the local talent base in all our geographies, especially in the US and in Europe,” he mentioned.