LOBBYING FAILS, H-1B VISA CAP FALLS to 65,000

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 01, 2003 12:53:47 PM ]via India TImes ^ | OCTOBER 01, 2003 12:53:47 PM | K YATISH RAJAWAT/ECONOMICTIMES.COM

[11th_VA]

MUMBAI: The annual cap for H-1B visas will now be 65,000. This is a sharp drop from the earlier limit of 195,000 visas.

The US plans to enforce this rule from October 1, 2003.

The Indian IT industry has been lobbying hard to freeze H-1B visa limits at current levels. However, these efforts which had the support of some US corporations to retain H-1B visa limits have failed. (Will Europe be the next big hunting ground for Indian IT pros?)

Indian IT professionals are among the largest users of H-1B visas, as US Big Tech shops big from this technical pool. The H1-B visa cap was raised to 195,000 in 02. This particular legislation had a 'sunset' clause. According to this clause, the limit would have (automatically) lapsed on October 1, 2003. Ergo, the H1-B visa annual cap will now fall back to 65,000 visas.

The H1-B visa issue has generated a lot of controversy in the US. Several trade unions representing (local) technology workers have been lobbying against these work permits. The slowdown in the high-tech industry combined with an overall drop in US economic growth has resulted in a number of job losses.

H1-B visa users have been at the receiving end of criticism from unemployed American professionals for taking away their jobs. These visa users are also seen as representative of the trend towards offshore outsourcing trade jargon for moving to cheaper locations like India which is also under flak for spiriting away US jobs.

The visa was created in the early 1950s to give skilled foreign workers a permit to reside in the United States. The H1-B category was added in 1990 to give foreign workers an opportunity to pick up a job with the intention of remaining permanently in the United States.

In 1999, under pressure from high-tech companies and other manufacturers, Congress expanded the limit from 65,000 to 115,000. It raised the cap again to 215,000 in 00 and to 195,000 in 01 and 02.

Top Indian companies have been curtailing the use of H1-B visas for sending employees to the US. Ergo, it unlikely that the offshore outsourcing trend will be affected. Most companies have shifted to the use of L-1 visas (used for intra-company transfers). However, companies whose basic revenue model is supplying manpower to US corporations, ( body-shoppers, are likely to be hit by this move.

[Lazamataz]

Haha. I'm a capitalist. You are a full-on Marxist clearly. Naturally, we disagree.

MCDP #2.

Meaningless China Dawg Points

1. You don't have an economics degree, so please don't talk about economies at all. It just makes you look stupid.
2. You are a typical Marxist Leninist Communist.
3. We're all doomed!
4. More people in America out of work means more stock profits, and my company will pay me more if the stock market goes up. Since it's all about me, I don't care if the rest of you all go to hell.
5. How about that Bama/Arkansas game?
6. You must be a Bush Hater. I don't care if we lose your vote. Good riddence.
7. How much do you want to bet that Bush will win? I will wager up to 1000 yuan.

Kindly print this out and when you need to make another China_Dawg cliched post, you can simply refer to the appropriate number. We'll all know what you mean, and reading your tripe will go much more quickly.

[Bikers4Bush]

I don't buy it, no true Texan think the way you do.

They'd be country first not wallet first.

In other words "I don't see any horns on you".

[Texas_Dawg]

Could any difference be more stark?

When you arrive at the same conclusions on all the major issues of the day, does it really matter how you got there?

[Bikers4Bush]

Looks like it's gonna be back top the crayons to explain it to you.

Uhm, no I don't feel my job is threatened and despite your misguided optimism I am quite valuable.

[Lazamataz]

You probably feel your job is threatened. And for good reason. So you throw out a bunch of rah-rah bogus appeals to patriotism when all it comes down to is that you're just not that valuable. Too bad.

MCDP #4.

Meaningless China Dawg Points

1. You don't have an economics degree, so please don't talk about economies at all. It just makes you look stupid.
2. You are a typical Marxist Leninist Communist.
3. We're all doomed!
4. More people in America out of work means more stock profits, and my company will pay me more if the stock market goes up. Since it's all about me, I don't care if the rest of you all go to hell.
5. How about that Bama/Arkansas game?
6. You must be a Bush Hater. I don't care if we lose your vote. Good riddence.
7. How much do you want to bet that Bush will win? I will wager up to 1000 yuan.

Kindly print this out and when you need to make another China_Dawg cliched post, you can simply refer to the appropriate number. We'll all know what you mean, and reading your tripe will go much more quickly.

[pyx]

How embarrassing it would be to lose your job to some 3rd worlder because he's deemed more efficient than you, dollar for dollar.

I'm not convinced that efficiency is the object of this exercise. I lean towards believing the trend has more to do with quantity (costs savings) over quality (efficiency).

I do have three questions for you;
1.) What is your opinion of the lowering of the quality of life and the lowering of living standards for middle-class America in the IT sector as a result of flooding the market with "3rd worlder's", as you call them ?
2.) Do you believe that its prudent to ignore or worse, ridicule the effects of job loss on large sectors of America as has occured in the IT and manufacturing sectors ?
3.) What is your opinion of those who spent huge sums of money and expended large amounts of time and energy when they retrained after job losses within the manufacturing sector for jobs in the IT sector at the advice of economists, educators, the government, the media and business leaders ?

[Texas_Dawg]

I don't buy it, no true Texan think the way you do.

That's fine. Do you know any Texans? I know thousands of them, and many of the ones most responsible for you having a Republican President. None of them would agree with you on this but then again they are educated capitalists and understand economics.

[Bikers4Bush]

LOL!!!

Nice one!

[Texas_Dawg]

I lean towards believing the trend has more to do with quantity (costs savings) over quality (efficiency).

I think you need to go study what is meant by economic efficiency. (And if even then you wanted to argue these company owners are making inefficient purchases with their money, how totalitarian can you get that you want to ban them from doing so?)

[Bikers4Bush]

Keep dreaming China dog.

And yes, I know lot's of Texans and I'd bet that none of them would even be able to stand the stench of your presence if they knew your political leanings.

[RiflemanSharpe]

I don't buy it, no true Texan think the way you do.
That's fine. Do you know any Texans? I know thousands of them, and many of the ones most responsible for you having a Republican President. None of them would agree with you on this but then again they are educated capitalists and understand economics.


I was born and raised in Pasadena TX, worked in the oil patch, now in computers. You sould like a carpet bagging Yankee to me!

[adam_az]

Clearly you are ignoring that it isn't a fair comparison and are intentionally misunderstanding what I wrote.

Take your liberal-inspired polemics and debate tactics elsewhere.

[Swanks]

Keep in mind two key conditions of H1-B, and how it is abused:
Must be an open position, and must be unable to find qualified candidates. Now see US Corporations violate these rules:

1999: We can't find qualified candidates for open positions, bring 'em in from India
2000: We have qualified candidates for open positions, bring 'em in anyway.
2001:We have no open positions; bring 'em in anyway, to take the filled role away from the US employee. Have the US employee train the person that takes his job

And the is what GW things is a good program. 3.3M jobs loss is not enough for this administration.

[Bikers4Bush]

That's an insult to hones carpet bagging yankees everywhere.

[RiflemanSharpe]

sould = sound

[Texas_Dawg]

And yes, I know lot's of Texans and I'd bet that none of them would even be able to stand the stench of your presence if they knew your political leanings.

My political leanings? Bro, go look up the zip code that gave more money to President Bush in 2000. My family, friends, and neighbors are far and away more reponsible for having taken back the White House for conservatives than anyone else out there. We're not stupid. We're successful. And we win. You might not be so angry about life if you truly believed in capitalism as well.

[Jmouse007]

"LOBBYING FAILS, H-1B VISA CAP FALLS to 65,000"

Good, our son is working as a computer programmer, just entered the field. Looks like his livelihood (along with countless others)is safe for awhile... Until the lobby from India et. al are able to bribe, blackmail... fill in the blank, the democrats and even republicans "politicians" into looking out for their interests instead of those of the American worker.

What a pitiable state we are in as a nation when we are reduced to the point of hoping our leaders do the right thing for us instead of foreign nations and workers.

[Texas_Dawg]

Take your liberal-inspired polemics and debate tactics elsewhere.

Liberal? I'm a capitalist. You're the totalitarian here.

[Bikers4Bush]

Your family and friends were responsible for the LAST president.

You must be living in a time flux. The big Chinese influence was on the last administration not the current one.

[Egon]

Bear with me-- this is the first time I've posted, and I'm using a text-only interface...

I've also been of two minds on this subject-- I'm a strong believer in capitalism, and don't like to see government intervention. But the system only works when everyone is on a level playing field.

I'm an IT independent contractor. I've seen companies bring in foreign IT people to replace their employee base. It's hard to bring them up to speed, and many (not all) are under-trained for the position. Those that can't make it are replaced by yet another foreign worker from the same company. I've had to train up to five people for a given position before one was finally able to grasp the concept. It's a meat-market that is cash-cow for the consulting company. They don't have to pay their people very much at all because whatever they pay them is a king's ransom compared to what they're used to-- and what they actually need to survive. I, on the other hand, have to live in this country, where it's a lot more expensive to live. I also have to pay a lot more in taxes than the consulting company or its foreign worker has to.

This means that the playing field is not level, and I cannot compete. I've seen my billrate drop by 75% over the last few years-- partly because of this problem, and partly because of the economy in general.

In this instance, I feel it's the government's job to protect its citizens against foreign interests through tarrifs and similar controls. Bring on the flames! ;-)