Infosys CEO and Managing Director Salil Parekh on Wednesday clarified that no employee of the IT major has been apprehended by US authorities, dismissing viral social media reports about a purported deportation of a staffer.
During the company's Q3 earnings call, Parekh, responding to a specific question, said the rumours that had been circulating online over the past few days.
"No Infosys employee has been apprehended by any US authority. A few months ago, one of our employees was denied entry into the US and was sent back to India," Parekh said.
The clarification comes in the wake of a post on social media platform X by a user named Chetan Anantharamu, which went viral earlier this week.
The post narrated what Anantharamu described as a "wild wild story" involving an Infosys employee from Mysuru who was allegedly on-site for a project in the United States.
According to the post, the employee was purportedly "picked up” by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents and given just two hours to pack his belongings before being offered a choice between jail or deportation.
The post further claimed that the employee was escorted by agents to the airport and subjected to humiliation during a transit in Frankfurt, alleging that public announcements were made on the aircraft stating he should not be allowed to escape.
Parekh dismissed reports suggesting otherwise and said the claims circulating online were incorrect.
Despite these challenges, Infosys said it remains committed to its delivery model that uses a mix of employees based in India and the US. As the industry continues its push into artificial intelligence and the expansion of global capability centres (GCC), maintaining seamless workforce mobility remains a priority for the IT major.
Parekh also spoke about the company’s approach to H-1B visas and workforce deployment in the US. “So on H1 and what the recruiting is, our approach is very clear. We have, as we had shared in the past, majority of our employees in the US who are not requiring any visa situation,” he said.
“We are continuing with our deployments and our delivery using a mix of work in the US and work in India. So no changes to that approach,” he added.
On new applications, Parekh said, “Any newer applications? No, not at this stage. We are continuing with our process because there is an existing set. We will examine it as it comes up in the future.”
India's USD 280-billion IT industry is balancing visa-related headwinds and global trade uncertainty against its biggest-ever push into artificial intelligence and the rapid expansion of global capability centres (GCCs).
Heightened scrutiny of the US H-1B visa programme, including a USD 1,00,000 fee for new visas, social media screening and unpredictable processing delays, has complicated cross-border delivery for Indian firms, even as companies accelerate efforts to reduce reliance on these visas. The US remains the sector's largest export market.