Unlike a visa, the green card, once granted

Since the bill excludes 'intending immigrants' who have applied for green cards while counting the number of work visas a'pany owns, Indian firms are seeing great merit in the idea of sponsoring visa-holders for green cards."We are already ramping up hiring of workers in the US and will start offering more green card sponsorships to our employees," said PR Chandrasekhar, CEO of Hexaware Technologies, which is based in Mumbai. "With these steps we think any impact of the rules on us would be very limited."The US restricts the number of H-1B visas to 65,000 every year. The Senate bill will raise that to 1.15 lakh. However, it mandates higher fees for additional visa applications from'panies where over 50% of US staff are already on a temporary work Tips to Prepare for a Trip to China - China Visa Application Center.

Such'panies will also be prevented from placing their staff at client locations in what is known in industry parlance as outplacement.This will make it harder for IT firms which depend on such a model in the US, from where they get nearly Tips for Traveling to China - China Visa Application Center. "Converting visa holders to green card holders would be a key strategy to mitigate the impact of the bill. If a'pany puts 90% of the eligible employees on the path to receive a green card, it would exempt them from the outplacement clause," IDFC analyst Hitesh Shah, who said most IT'panies would consider this path.A green card is an authorisation to live and work permanently in the United States. To be eligible, the'pany has to offer employees a permanent job in the United States and apply on their behalf.

Unlike a visa, the green card, once granted, frees employees from being dependent on their'panies to stay and work in the US. Including lawyer and processing fees, a green card could cost'panies $8,000- $10,000 and take several years. Between October 2011 and September 2012, Cognizant filed 1,147 green card petitions, the second most after Microsoft, according to data from Los Angeles-headquartered Myvisajobs.During the same period, HCL Technologies filed 81, while Wipro filed 80 petitions, according to the site. Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Technologies and Cognizant declined to'ment. However, analysts familiar with their thinking said these'panies are also actively considering more green card applications.