GONE IN A DAY: YEAR'S SUPPLY OF 'SKILLED' VISAS

Miami Herald ^ | Oct. 06, 2004 | Herald Staff and Wire Reports

[JesseHousman]

The U.S. used up its supply of 65,000 temporary visas for skilled foreign workers in a single day. Advocates for raising the quota said that bolstered their case.

South Florida businesses that rely on talented foreign workers to fill technical positions are out of luck until next October -- unless they have an applicant already in the pipeline.

Federal officials closed the 2005 application window for highly coveted foreign professional visas just hours after it opened.

The unprecedented rush for temporary visas for those skilled foreign workers demonstrates U.S. companies' pent-up demand for candidates in such technical fields as engineering, mathematics and research. And, South Florida experts say, it increases the likelihood that companies will outsource jobs overseas.

''It means, unfortunately, that employers here will have less options in terms of hiring,'' Deborah Vazquez, chief executive of the Miami-Dade and Broward County recruiting firm Protech, told The Herald. ``We will have fewer candidates, [less] talent in a situation in which demand very much outstrips supply.''

The quota of 65,000 ''H-1B'' visas was filled Friday, the first day of the 2005 fiscal year, meaning that U.S. companies must wait until October 2005 to hire more foreign workers under the visas.

Until two years ago, the government issued 195,000 of the visas annually. The allotment was slashed because of increased restrictions on immigration following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Job losses in the computer and high-tech sectors have made legislators reluctant to reinstate the bigger quota, even though U.S. companies have argued that most of the jobs filled are outside those sectors.

''It was a real wake-up call when these numbers were issued,'' said Sandra Boyd, who chairs Compete America, a corporate coalition pushing for more H-1B visas. ``I don't think anyone believes it's acceptable that a whole year can now go by without any access to these people.''

The H-1B visas have been popular with U.S. companies, which maintain that they cannot find enough American workers with advanced scientific and engineering degrees to fill critical jobs. Last year, the 65,000-worker cap was hit in February 2004, about five months into the fiscal year.

Tammy Fox-Isicoff, a Miami immigration attorney who helps foreign professionals get H-1Bs, said lawmakers must raise the visa cap again or ''carve out exceptions'' for disaster areas like Florida after the hurricanes or for professions with employee shortages such as teachers or healthcare professionals.

''This situation is terrible that when the doors open to H-1Bs, it swings shut on the same day,'' Fox-Isicoff said in an interview with The Herald. ``It's not good for American business.''

Companies were allowed to submit applications against this year's quota in April.

Theodore Ruthizer, who heads the business immigration practice at Kramer Levin, a New York law firm, predicted that the scarcity of slots will worsen unless Congress expands the program.

''It just proves the numbers are inadequate,'' he told The Financial Times.

U.S. companies have been urging Congress to adopt an interim measure by exempting from the quota any foreign national holding an advanced degree from a U.S. school. That would add about 20,000 positions a year.

About two-thirds of students taking advanced mathematics and engineering degrees at U.S. schools are foreign born. U.S. companies say they will be at a disadvantage should those students go to work for overseas competitors.

And immigrant-rich South Florida has a large share of that talent.

''We have so many universities here with foreign students who come and graduate and look for jobs in the area,'' Andrew Koerner, a partner with the Leaf Koerner law firm in Miami, told The Herald. ``It's just sad to see these small-business owners suddenly stopped from being able to grow their businesses.''

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© 2004 Herald.com and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.miami.com

[blues_guitarist]

"But we have a right to a job where we want to live, at the salary we want! It's in the Constimatooshun somewhere!"

Hee, hee, hee!

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

Actually, it's called onshore offshoring. I work in IT. Two buildings here are filled with them. This is in Seattle, which has an astoundingly high number of unemployed IT workers. It's treason if you ask me. They come here, work for the American dollar, contribute nothing in the way of civil duty, then head back home with pockets stuffed with cash. I wouldn't mind it half so much if they weren't so arrogant and unfriendly. And it isn't just me that has made the observation.

[blues_guitarist]

"So what your saying then is that you can't find an engineering job in the town where you live for the money you think you ought to make. As the owner of a small business, I suggest that you move to a locale where the job prospects are better and/or accept a lower paying job until (a) a better paying job comes along or (b) you prove to your new employer that you're worth the money you think you should earn. In all honesty, just from what you have said in your posts, I wouldn't hire you either because you bitch too much, demand too much, and have too many excuses, and you are unwilling or unable to adapt and improvise, and go that extra mile. I see you as a high maintenance, high risk employee. I hope I'm wrong, but that's my impression from your posts."

Well, you just summed up my thoughts.

[Dat Mon]

Whats your point...people who design high tech electronics...many of which finds its way into COTS DOD programs, or in many cases into DOD weapons and defense electronics should transition to writing traffic tickets?

How many cops do we need. How many cops do YOU want on the local and state government payroll?

[ican'tbelieveit]

I just find it amazing that the left whines about outsourcing, but nothing about this little "quirk" in the system.

[Dat Mon]

"This is ridiculous. The administration should immediately lift this stupid quota. We need to draw the best and brightest here to remain competitive economically. What a discrace!"

Where have YOU been? Ever been to grad school? Ever gone to an IEEE conference? Ever read a technical book? We HAVE been attracting the best and the brightest here since the 40's. This H1b situation is something a bit different.

There is a BIG difference between legal immigration, which is fine by me, and EXPOITATION. Some folks here apparently don't know the difference.

[Dat Mon]

"In all my years of recruiting for technical and non-technical positions in Silicon Valley, I have NEVER had a client replace a US citizen with an H1B Visa employee. I'm not saying it never happens, but it is definitely the exception, not the rule."

This H1b phenomena is a fairly recent development, as is the L1. There have always been H1b positions offered, but not at the exponential level of growth we have seen in the last few years.

I myself have never been affected by it directly, but I know of several highly skilled engineers with advanced degrees who have been affected.

[Dat Mon]

"Do what I did when I couldn't find a job in my home state: MOVE!"

As a consultant with my own company, I spent several years on the road traveling and commuting on weekends. Let me tell you, it is no life for a family man, or anybody for that matter.

Most companies today offer slim or none in the way of relocation benefits. Depending on the amount of equity in your house, and the situation with your kids, it may make sense to commute, as many do, living at home only on weekends.

Without a travel expense deduction, you cannot save money this way.

[briant]

Relocationg third worlders to undercut wages is the problem.

[Dat Mon]

"Hear! Hear!...tired of folks expecting jobs handed to them in their chosen field...Work is something to pay the bills..."

Thats fine for you to say. What you do for a living and your job satisfaction is your business.

However, it takes more than that attitude to build a strong economy which can compete globally with other economies. Lets say we all drive trucks for a living. India and China make all of the stuff that goes into the trucks we drive around.

Now hears the tough question...who has a better standard of living...those who make and sell the products...or those who drive the delivery trucks?

[Dat Mon]

pingin

[Dat Mon]

"I tried HARD to find US people - H1B's were a serious pain in the neck. I called thousands (no exaggeration) of people to fill hundreds of high level positions and time and time again I would hear "$45 per hr for someone with my credentials? I wouldn't flip a burger for that. "

Okay...having worked in aerospace and defense for years I'd say you are leaving out something. $90K for a senior level engineer (employee)is a fairly decent rate.

However, if your talking about California, and youre talking to a man who owns a $180K house, to move to an equivalent house costs what....$300K, $400K, you tell me.

I know because I contemplated the same move years ago.

Then theres the issue of security clearances. There are plenty of engineering positions available out there...BUT... they require a CURRENT security clearance. The waitng list for clearnaces is over a year now.

I dont suppose those jobs you speak of were in that category.

[unspun]

Whats your point...

My point is simply that while our law proscribes the H1-B Visa program, it also sets parameters for it; that being the case, just as with all "INS" type proscriptions, appropriate enforcement of our law beats chaos.

[meadsjn]

Completely disagree. Free Trade is a conservative idea, not a liberal one. Free trade benefits everyone. This falls under trade: trade in ideas, trade in skills, trade in knoweledge.

You are dead wrong on that. Free trade was the mantra of the slave-owning Democrats leading up to the Civil War. The Democrats continued to be anti-tariff and anti-protectionist through the Reconstruction, the Industrial Revolution, and through the Roaring Twenties.

The Republicans supported protectionist policies for American industry and tariffs (for revenue and for protection of American industry) from the time of the party's creation, and up until the neo-liberals starting converting to neo-cons in the last couple of decades.

Lincoln supported protectionism for American industry, as did McKinley, Coolidge, and Eisenhower, and Reagan.

Of course the Free Traitors will try to find one example in each of those administrations to support their contention that "Free Traitin" is a Republican value, but they will still be dead wrong.

Democrats spent years trying to shift the burden of taxation onto productivity as opposed to taxing imports and consumption. Wilson finally accomplished it. Since 1913, the Democrats and Republicans have simply disagreed on the desirable magnitude of this slave tax.

[Labyrinthos]

My, are you bitter. Did you forget to take your meds?

[clamper1797]

I myself have never been affected by it directly, but I know of several highly skilled engineers with advanced degrees who have been affected

I'm one of them ... was out 16 months ... Ipersonally know at least ten others who were let go and an H1B took their place. Motorola, Teradyne and Cisco in SILICON VALLEY to be precise

[Dat Mon]

"appropriate enforcement of our law beats chaos."

If you talk to people in the know, they will tell you that there is little or NO enforcement possible for violations of the H1b / L1 program. Thats one of the main issues with this program. Companies can fudge in many ways, and there is no way to insure compliance. Compliance for the government means simply filling out the forms. If the forms are submitted correctly, the bullsh*t thats on them cannot be verified or enforced by the Feds.

[Regulator]

My, are you bitter

Why no, not at all. What makes you think that?

I trust your confusion about Revolutionary American history has been cleared up.

I'm always happy to help you late arrivals.

[Ironfocus]

ping to self

[Dat Mon]

Been there. After 9-11, business was terrible for well over a year and small guys like myself were squeezed financially. I have invested lots of time and money in the business Im in...which is custom electronics for research, development and test.

Where things are going for this profession is nebulous at best.