Infosys settles visa payment dispute with California

Global software major Infosys on Wednesday said it had reached a settlement with the California Attorney General on charges related to B-1 visas to its techies.

"Our agreement concludes the California Attorney General's investigation into allegations related to the payment of state payroll taxes for some employees travelling on B-1 visas dating back to 2006," Infosys Company Secretary A.G.S. Manikantha said in a regulatory filing on the BSE.

The agreement will result in the case being dismissed with prejudice and was reached to avoid time, expense and distraction of protracted litigation on the charges against the city-based IT behemoth.

"We dispute the allegations and we admit no wrong-doing in the case," asserted the $11 billion outsourcing firm.

The company also reiterated that it maintains robust policies and procedures to ensure adherence with all applicable regulations and laws.

However, the Bengaluru-based company refused to share the penalty it paid to California state to settle the visa fraud dispute out of court.

The company also declined to reveal how many Infosys employees it sent to California for work under the B-1 visa, a business visa which doesn't allow a person to work unlike the H1-B which allows to work.

According to a local report, Infosys paid a whopping $8,00,000 or Rs 57 crore for sending up to 500 employees to California in violation of the US immigration rules in the 13 years long case. IANS