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Chamak of the day:
U.S. May Ease Entry For High-Tech Workers
Senators Seek to Circumvent
Cap on Temporary Visas
Amid Corporate Pressure
By MICHAEL SCHROEDER
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
WASHINGTON -- Proposals to allow more high-technology foreign workers into the U.S. are gaining ground on Capitol Hill, despite complaints that plenty of Americans are available to fill the jobs.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R., Utah) is pushing a plan to circumvent the 65,000 cap on so-called H-1B temporary worker visas by expanding exemptions, according to Senate aides familiar with the discussions. The talks mark the first time influential senators are pressing for a temporary increase in the limit. While it is unclear the effort will succeed, his effort paves the way for a full airing of visa-overhaul legislation that has already been introduced and will likely be considered after Jan. 1.
The last-minute effort to modify the visa rules as the congressional session winds down has been prompted by growing concern among U.S. multinationals and high-tech companies that the current cap will prevent thousands of expert foreign workers from entering the U.S. next year. In addition, immigration lawyers, officials and technology trade groups from India, and major U.S. tech companies are pushing to raise the annual visa limit to more than 100,000. Any rule changes likely would be attached to a must-pass appropriation bill.
"We will continue to work with colleagues to try and find any appropriate legislative action. But we haven't announced anything yet," a spokeswoman for Mr. Hatch said.
She added that any plan would include some added protections for U.S. workers, including reinstating a $1,000 fee for each visa that would be used to pay for retraining American workers -- a strategy aimed at gaining Democratic agreement.
So far, an idea being pressed by Intel Corp., the giant computer chip maker, is getting the most attention. It would exempt from the visa cap foreign students with graduate technical degrees.
Under the current rules, only foreign H-1B holders who work at universities or nonprofit research and development organizations don't count against the cap. More then 30,000 such visa holders the past two years qualified. Under legislation Mr. Hatch sponsored, the H-1B program had expanded to 195,000 visas in 2001, but with the bust in high-tech, lawmakers allowed the cap to shrink back to its longstanding level of 65,000 on Sept. 30 when the higher level legally expired.
With half of the students in technical graduate programs in the U.S. from foreign countries, Intel Chairman Andy Grove argued recently that to maintain the U.S. competitive edge, the government should adopt a public policy to encourage the most highly skilled foreign students to work here.
"We are seeing behind-the-scene support for doing something," such as expanding exemptions, said an Intel spokeswoman in Washington.
Advocates of liberalizing the visa program concede it will be a tough sell. Sparked by rising layoffs among U.S. tech workers, a backlash of American workers and labor unions has targeted the widespread use of the visas as a significant cause of U.S. job woes. They contend that U.S. companies often are replacing American workers with lesser-paid foreign workers.
Some companies that sponsor H-1B visa workers -- generally computer programmers, engineers and other high-tech experts -- now are forecasting that shortages of qualified workers will occur early next year.
As the U.S. economy sank into recession, the use of the visas plummeted 50% from a peak of 164,000 in fiscal year 2001 to about 79,000 both last year and for the 2003 fiscal year, ended Sept. 30, according to the immigration unit of the Homeland Security Department. In 2002, the U.S. had about 710,000 holders of H-1B visas, which expire after six years.
Paul Zulkie, a Chicago immigration lawyer and president-elect of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, claims that the 2004 cap is closer to 35,000 because more than 22,000 applications from last year are likely to be approved this fiscal year and nearly 7,000 H-1B visas have been set aside for applicants from Chile and Singapore under free-trade pacts.
The cap, which the immigration lawyers group is pressing to be increased to 115,000, likely will be reached by March, Mr. Zulkie said. "Congress only responds to a crisis. That will occur in the winter," he adds.
Another strong lobbying force on the issue is India, which supplies a majority of high-tech H-1B holders. India's National Association of Software and Service Companies, a New Delhi trade group representing 850 international companies, which hired lobbying firm Hill & Knowlton, is advocating a cap of between 120,000 and 130,000. Indian ministers have assured their parliament that U.S. diplomats have been urged to preserve the higher levels for the H-1B program, according to reports in the Indian news media.
U.S. May Ease Entry For High-Tech Workers
Senators Seek to Circumvent
Cap on Temporary Visas
Amid Corporate Pressure
By MICHAEL SCHROEDER
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
WASHINGTON -- Proposals to allow more high-technology foreign workers into the U.S. are gaining ground on Capitol Hill, despite complaints that plenty of Americans are available to fill the jobs.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R., Utah) is pushing a plan to circumvent the 65,000 cap on so-called H-1B temporary worker visas by expanding exemptions, according to Senate aides familiar with the discussions. The talks mark the first time influential senators are pressing for a temporary increase in the limit. While it is unclear the effort will succeed, his effort paves the way for a full airing of visa-overhaul legislation that has already been introduced and will likely be considered after Jan. 1.
The last-minute effort to modify the visa rules as the congressional session winds down has been prompted by growing concern among U.S. multinationals and high-tech companies that the current cap will prevent thousands of expert foreign workers from entering the U.S. next year. In addition, immigration lawyers, officials and technology trade groups from India, and major U.S. tech companies are pushing to raise the annual visa limit to more than 100,000. Any rule changes likely would be attached to a must-pass appropriation bill.
"We will continue to work with colleagues to try and find any appropriate legislative action. But we haven't announced anything yet," a spokeswoman for Mr. Hatch said.
She added that any plan would include some added protections for U.S. workers, including reinstating a $1,000 fee for each visa that would be used to pay for retraining American workers -- a strategy aimed at gaining Democratic agreement.
So far, an idea being pressed by Intel Corp., the giant computer chip maker, is getting the most attention. It would exempt from the visa cap foreign students with graduate technical degrees.
Under the current rules, only foreign H-1B holders who work at universities or nonprofit research and development organizations don't count against the cap. More then 30,000 such visa holders the past two years qualified. Under legislation Mr. Hatch sponsored, the H-1B program had expanded to 195,000 visas in 2001, but with the bust in high-tech, lawmakers allowed the cap to shrink back to its longstanding level of 65,000 on Sept. 30 when the higher level legally expired.
With half of the students in technical graduate programs in the U.S. from foreign countries, Intel Chairman Andy Grove argued recently that to maintain the U.S. competitive edge, the government should adopt a public policy to encourage the most highly skilled foreign students to work here.
"We are seeing behind-the-scene support for doing something," such as expanding exemptions, said an Intel spokeswoman in Washington.
Advocates of liberalizing the visa program concede it will be a tough sell. Sparked by rising layoffs among U.S. tech workers, a backlash of American workers and labor unions has targeted the widespread use of the visas as a significant cause of U.S. job woes. They contend that U.S. companies often are replacing American workers with lesser-paid foreign workers.
Some companies that sponsor H-1B visa workers -- generally computer programmers, engineers and other high-tech experts -- now are forecasting that shortages of qualified workers will occur early next year.
As the U.S. economy sank into recession, the use of the visas plummeted 50% from a peak of 164,000 in fiscal year 2001 to about 79,000 both last year and for the 2003 fiscal year, ended Sept. 30, according to the immigration unit of the Homeland Security Department. In 2002, the U.S. had about 710,000 holders of H-1B visas, which expire after six years.
Paul Zulkie, a Chicago immigration lawyer and president-elect of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, claims that the 2004 cap is closer to 35,000 because more than 22,000 applications from last year are likely to be approved this fiscal year and nearly 7,000 H-1B visas have been set aside for applicants from Chile and Singapore under free-trade pacts.
The cap, which the immigration lawyers group is pressing to be increased to 115,000, likely will be reached by March, Mr. Zulkie said. "Congress only responds to a crisis. That will occur in the winter," he adds.
Another strong lobbying force on the issue is India, which supplies a majority of high-tech H-1B holders. India's National Association of Software and Service Companies, a New Delhi trade group representing 850 international companies, which hired lobbying firm Hill & Knowlton, is advocating a cap of between 120,000 and 130,000. Indian ministers have assured their parliament that U.S. diplomats have been urged to preserve the higher levels for the H-1B program, according to reports in the Indian news media.
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