Washington, March 14, 2006
Ram Parsad
The measures include nearly doubling the number of
H-1B skilled-worker temporary visas to 115,000
with an option of raising the cap 20 percent more
each year. H-1B visas were highly controversial in
the Bay Area when their numbers reached a peak of
195,000 in 2003.
The provisions were sought by Silicon Valley tech
companies and enjoy significant bipartisan support
amid concern that the United States might lose its
lead in technology. They would broaden avenues to
legal immigration for foreign tech workers and would
put those with advanced degrees on an automatic path
to permanent residence should they want it.
After Sept. 11, 2001, Congress quietly allowed the
number of H-1B visas to plummet back to 65,000 a year.The
cap was reached in August in effect turning
off the tap of the visas for 14 months. A special
exemption of 20,000 visas for workers with advanced
degrees was reached in January. Now Indian and Chinese
students face brighter prospects in their own booming
economies, and the fear now is that they no longer
want to come to the United States.
Other provisions include a new F-4 visa category
for students pursuing advanced degrees in science,
technology, engineering or mathematics. These students
would be granted permanent residence if they find
a job in their field and pay a $1,000 fee toward scholarships
and training for U.S. workers
"The U.S. is educating these people," said
Kara Calvert, director of government relations for
the Information Technology Industry Council, a tech
industry group. "This allows these students to
remain in the U.S. and contribute to the U.S. economy."
The provisions for highly skilled workers enjoy support
in both parties in the Senate and in the Bush administration
after a raft of high-profile studies have warned that
the United States is not producing enough math and
science students and is in danger of losing its global
edge in innovation to India and China.
Many U.S. companies don't even bother to recruit
Americans because they can find foreigners willing
to work longer hours for less pay. The U.S. immigration
system has forced more companies to move work to other
countries. In recent years, companies such as Microsoft,
Intel and Motorola Inc. have pumped billions of dollars
into research centers in China and India.
Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy echoed many in
the tech industry at a conference in Washington on
Wednesday when he warned that if skilled immigration
is not expanded, "There will be a great sucking
sound of innovation out of the U.S."
The H1-b allows for renewals with a maximum stay
of six years. Those who apply for Green Cards (also
called Resident Alien or Permanent Residence) can
have their H1-bs extended beyond that time as long
as 365 days had elapsed since the filing of a work-related
Green Card referred to as a Labor Certification, or
other EB (employment-based) case.