Posted on 06/03/2005 7:29:45 AM PDT by JesseJane
Two months later than planned, federal officials are finally ready to start taking applications for an additional 20,000 H-1B visas.
The extra visas were approved last fall by Congress
MAY 09, 2005 (COMPUTERWORLD) - Federal officials will finally open the doors to an additional 20,000 foreign workers under the H-1B visa program beginning Thursday, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agency announced last week.
The start of the application process for the new visas comes after a two-month delay and some controversy over the eligibility requirements for applicants. The USCIS, which sets immigration policies and rules on visa and naturalization petitions, said the visas will be granted only to foreigners who have at least a master's-level degree from a U.S. academic institution.
That reverses the immigration service's initial position on who would be eligible. The agency had said in March that it was considering opening the extra H-1B slots to any qualified foreign national -- not just those holding advanced degrees from U.S. universities.
But the agency's earlier stance was contrary to the intent of the eligibility language that Congress inserted last fall in the legislation that created the 20,000 additional visas, according to Sandra Boyd, who heads Compete America, a Washington-based lobbying group that represents more than 200 corporations and universities. The group backs the H-1B program as a means of ensuring that U.S. businesses can hire skilled professionals from other countries.
Interpreting Language
Boyd, who is also vice president of human resources policy at the National Association of Manufacturers, said the USCIS made the "right interpretation" of the H-1B Visa Reform Act in the regulations that will be published in the Federal Register this week.
She added that the agency's apparent indecision over how to handle the visa allocation process created uncertainties for employers as well as prospective visa holders.
"There was a lot of confusion about whether people would be offered jobs," Boyd said. "It made it impossible to plan, and it all seemed pretty unnecessary."
Christopher Bentley, a spokesman for the USCIS, said that as the agency continued its review of the new law, "we came to the realization that this was not the intent of Congress" to allow workers without an advanced degree to get the added visas.
Congress approved the additional visas after IT vendors and other H-1B supporters complained that the 65,000-visa cap in place for the government's current fiscal year was too low to meet demand. All of the visas available under the cap were taken by last Oct. 1, the first day of fiscal 2005. The USCIS said last week that the extra visas will also be available in future fiscal years and will be exempt from the regular cap.
This is not true, but hey, don't let lies get in your way of making a quick buck doc.
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Strange. Railings against profits on FR? Let them come and let us all prosper. Dividing immigrants against non immigrants is like dividing rich vs. the poor. It's a Dem strategy.
I have personally seen a job ad recently on monster.com where they ONLY would accept H1-B holders or residents of India who can get an H1-B visa for a job in Philadelphia! It said the job was only open to them and not to Americans, I kid you not. Open discrimination of Americans in America by Americans. Unbelievable!
No, I just not particularly fond of people who lie to make a quick buck. If you are, then maybe you are more in line with that liberal Dem strategy then I am.
This article says that H1-b visas were capped because of resistance to Mode-4 of the GATS. It also says capping H1-b visas is "incompatible" with WTO policies. It appears our Congress is once again caving to internationalists.
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Third, the Doha development agenda’s negotiations on services are at a request-offer stage. These will eventually modify existing Uruguay Round commitments. Services can be delivered through four means — mode one, cross-border trade; mode two, consumption abroad; mode three, commercial presence; mode four, presence of natural persons. As a generalization, it is possibly true that developed countries pushed for mode three during the Uruguay Round and resisted mode four (the H1-B cap) and in the process, did not pay sufficient attention to exemptions in, say, mode three. Hence, some of the proposed anti-outsourcing legislation in New Jersey, Maryland, Washington, Connecticut and Missouri may very well be World Trade Organization-incompatible. While opening up, and exemptions are functions of quid pro quo obtained, negotiations will no longer be as simple as mode three versus mode four.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1030623/asp/opinion/story_2065313.asp
The vast majority of people are still directly unaffected by all of this artificial downward pressure on American wages. When it finally hits their job, then they will start complaining. Until then, they all seem to be too fat, happy and ignorant to care.
The United States decides how many H1-b visas are to be issued in trade negotiations-- the Uruguay Round to be precise.
It isn't American companies requesting more, its foreign countries pressing the US to accept them to facilitate "free trade" deals.
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Here you have the essential ingredients of possible action, especially for services done on-site. First, tighten L1 visa procedures and impose caps. Second, thanks to the Uruguay Round’s (1986-94) market access negotiations, the US has a minimum commitment of 65,000 H1-B visas. Resist pressure by US IT companies to increase actual H1-B visas to above the bare minimum.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1030623/asp/opinion/story_2065313.asp
Issue the visas only after a 4 year stint in the US Military.
Perhaps the larger question is, why is it that Republicans are accelerating the process begun by Democrats? It seems like our elected elites are too busy handing over jobs and money to foreign citizens (as opposed to immigrants, who come here to integrate into our society, which is a good thing) and prying open our borders to even think twice about the safety or job security of American citizens.
This type of labor arbitrage is unwise. By depressing wages in these fields, it ensures that there won't be a next generation of Americans working in high technology.
The problem is that the current system of H1B visas is great for the hiring company's bottom line, and it works well for the company in the middle, and of course the H1B holder is delighted. But it is killing all incentive for a new generation of Americans in high technology. If we cannot raise another generation of computer scientists and engineers, we won't lead the world in high technology development.
I think if you read very closely, you'll begin to see that people are just tired and leery of what we've come to think of as some huge govt. scam on the American people. All western nations have the same problem.
The govt. is doing far too much managing of the job market.
Interestingly, many foreign countries have elements of such a proposal. When you are 14 or 15 in some European countries, you are apptitude tested for the type of high school you go to. Some high schools are vocationsl, others are college oriented. In Japan, high school selection is competitive and based on grades and test scores. The brightest kids go to one school, the next brightest, to a second best school, etc. Only in the U.S. and Canada do all the students go to the same schools. There is no attempt to generate interest or to exploit the natural abilities of kids so they can be productive in the areas most suitable to them.
You are correct, Sir!! I salute you!!
I agree with you. Thanks for the post.
That is blatantly illegal to advertise like that. Someone local to that area and who has the necessary skills for this position needs to complain to the State Workforce Agency under the Department of Labor. That's who has to approve the Labor Condition Application for an H1B. On the other hand, the pay scale doesn't look bad.
Check out this ad on monster.com, then try tell me we still need H1-B visa holders to do this work, or that we don't have enough qualified people to do this work. I dare you, go ahead try.
Even better, the company claims to be an "equal opportunity employer..."
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