Two Spins on Whether H-1B Limits Will go Down

Date: Wednesday, September 24, 2003 9:30 AM

JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

www.ZaZona.com

Spin #1:
The H-1B limits are going to go down, and nobody is going to lobby to
change that fact because too many Americans are out of work.

USAToday:

The United States is about to cut the number of employment
visas it offers to highly qualified foreign workers from
195,000 to 65,000, immigration experts said Monday. Unless
Congress acts by the end of this month and there is little
sign it will do so.

AEA:

Asked about using a little of the lobbying muscle "tech
organisations exerted so forcefully three years ago", William
T Archey, President and Chief Executive of the AEA said, "we
will accept the going back to 65,000 and lets see whats going
on with the economy in the forseeable future. If in fact there
is a growth and much greater demand, lets revisit this with
the Congress."

Spin #2:
The H-1B limits probably won't go down because lobbyists such as
Ingersoll-Rand, Intel, and the US Chamber of Commerce are lobbying for
an increase:

NASSOM President Kiran Karnik (registered Senate lobbyist)

"There is a possibility that the level of 195,000 would be
retained. Last year the legislation was introduced and
passed just a few days before the expiry of the deadline.
It may happen this year also.

India Times

Foreign nationals employed in the US on H-1B (skilled worker)
visas contribute to the maintaining US global advantage. This
was the argument put forth by representatives of the US Chamber
of Commerce, Intel Corporation and Ingersoll-Rand Company at
the US Senate hearing on the Importance of H-1B visa employees
to the American economy.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/xml/uncomp/articleshow?msid=196616

We need H-1B holders: USA, Inc. to Senate
URMI A GOSWAMI

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2003 01:07:17 AM ]

NEW DELHI: Foreign nationals employed in the US on H-1B (skilled
worker) visas contribute to the maintaining US global advantage. This
was the argument put forth by representatives of the US Chamber of
Commerce, Intel Corporation and Ingersoll-Rand Company at the US Senate
hearing on the Importance of H-1B visa employees to the American
economy.

The corporate representatives said that they actively support, and
continue to collectively contribute to training US citizens and
permanent residents for highly skilled jobs. However, the fact remains
that corporations cant find enough US workers with advanced
education, skills and expertise that they require. More importantly,
many corporations contribute millions of dollars to universities to
support cutting edge research. Many of the graduate students working on
these researches are foreign nationals. In order for these students who
have benefited from an American education to remain in the US they need
to have H1-B status. This would ensure that these students contribute
to the American economy in a manner commensurate with the benefits they
have received.

A common perception is companies are using H1-B employees to lay off
American permanent citizens or residents. On this issue, Intel
Corporations human resources attorney Patrick J Duffy said that H1-B
employees in the US constitute less that 5% of the US workforce.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/techinvestor/2003-09-22-h1b-visas-cut_x.htm

U.S. to sharply cut number of high-tech visas
WASHINGTON (Reuters) The United States is about to cut the number of
employment visas it offers to highly qualified foreign workers from
195,000 to 65,000, immigration experts said Monday.
Unless Congress acts by the end of this month and there is little sign
it will do so. The change will automatically take effect on Oct. 1.
Employers, especially technology companies, argue the move will hurt
them and the economy.

The change will affect the number of H1-B visas that can be issued each
fiscal year. The visas are mostly used to bring high-tech experts from
Asia, especially from the Indian sub-continent, to work in the United
States for up to three years.

"The fact that Congress doesn't seem anxious to act reflects the
political climate, with a lack of jobs for Americans," said New York
immigration lawyer Cyrus Mehta.

"The pressure to change the limit will build up again when the economy
picks up."

The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the issue last week.
Republican chairman Orrin Hatch of Utah noted that many U.S. high-tech
workers are unemployed and the committee needed to find ways of helping
them without hurting the country's ability to compete globally.

Vermont Democratic senator Patrick Leahy said: "Given the weakness of
our current economy, and the rising unemployment we have experienced
under President Bush's stewardship, many who supported the increase in
2000 now believe that 65,000 visas are sufficient."

But Patrick Duffy, human resources attorney for Intel, said finding the
best-educated engineering talent from around the world was critical to
his company's future.

"We expect that we will continue to sponsor H-1B employees in the
future for the simple reason that we cannot find enough U.S. workers
with the advanced education, skills, and expertise we need," he said.

Elizabeth Dickson, director of immigration services for the
Ingersoll-Rand Company, speaking on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce, said: "In the near-term, we simply must have access to
foreign nationals. Many of them have been educated in the United
States. By sending them home, we are at best sending them to our own
foreign plant sites, and at worst to our competitors."

Immigration attorneys expect the new rules to set off a scramble by
companies to fill their slots early before the ceiling is reached. How
quickly that happens depends on the state of the economy, they said.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_387549,0003.htm

Indian IT industry to be hit by cut in H1-B visas
Indo-Asian News Service
New Delhi, September 23

India's dollar-spinning software industry may take a hit in the years
ahead by an impending cut in the number of H1-B visas issued by the US
for skilled workers, a premier IT lobby group said Tuesday.

"We are not really worried about its impact on the Indian industry in
the short-term. But if thefor a level of 65,000 is maintained long
time, it will have a fallout, said National Association of Software and
Service Companies (Nasscom) president Kiran Karnik.

"The impact may be felt after two to three years," he told media
persons in Delhi.

Beginning October 1, the number of H1-B visas issued, which currently
stands at 195,000 a year, is likely to be reduced to 65,000 a year
unless the US Congress addresses the issue by September 30.

Almost 50 per cent of the H1-B visas issued worldwide last year by the
US went to Indian professionals. India is also currently the second
largest source, after Mexico, of legal immigrants to the US.

"Legislation has to be introduced and passed by the US Congress by
September 30 if the level of 195,000 H1-B visas is to be maintained.
Otherwise the cap will revert to 65,000," said Karnik.

"There is a possibility that the level of 195,000 would be retained.
Last year the legislation was introduced and passed just a few days
before the expiry of the deadline. It may happen this year also.

"But if it doesn't happen, then I think the level of 65,000 may be too
low for market forces to operate."

The proposal to cut H1-B visas comes at a time of slump in the US
economy and unemployment, resulting in an outcry against job losses in
the local market and tech jobs being shipped abroad, particularly to
India, via outsourcing.

The H1-B visa category was created in 1952 to provide the US economy
with technically skilled foreign workers.

Currently, there are some estimated 900,000 H1-B employees in the US,
35-45 per cent of whom are from India, according to the American
Immigration Lawyers Association.

Karnik said employers in the US currently need and would continue to
need H1-B workers.

"The H1-B visa programme has been very useful for the US companies.
It's an issue for US industry to take up. By reducing the cap from
195,000 to 65,000 you are artificially suppressing the market forces,"
he said.

The Nasscom chief said the Indian IT industry would be comfortable with
the level of at least 120,000 for H1-B visas.

Karnik said the delay in processing of visas to the US is also creating
problems for the local software companies. "We are more worried about
the delay in processing of visas than a cut in the number of visas
issued by the US.

"Earlier, visas for technology professionals used to be cleared in two
to three weeks but now the process gets delayed by two to three months.
Such long delay causes uncertainty."

The US is the prime export destination of the Indian software industry,
whose export revenues increased from $164 million in 1991 to around $10
billion in 2002, representing a compounded annual growth rate of 45 per
cent.

http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=13255276

H-1B visas to fall to 65,000 from Oct 1

Thursday, 18 September , 2003, 22:02

Washington: Supporters and critics alike of H-1B visas which have
brought thousands of Indian and other foreign hi-tech workers to the US
on salaries that average $60,000 a year, have decided to wait and see
as the number falls to the normal 65,000 a year from next month.
Congress had expanded the number to 195,000 annually in 2001 but
included a "sunset provision," that is, when a temporary measure falls
to normal, to bring it back to 65,000 a year from October 1 this year.

Associations of technology companies, facing political headwinds on
immigration and the economy, which is on a downturn, have "grudgingly"
accepted the cut, The Washington Post noted.

Even though the number of H-1B workers has plummeted, some companies
still worry that reducing the cap now will hinder their ability to hire
enough skilled workers when the economy recovers, the paper said.

"We are supportive of the H-1B visa programme. We think it allows tech
companies to hire uniquely skilled workers," said Thom Stohler, vice
President of workforce policy at AEA (American Electronics
Association).

Stohler said the cut will not be a problem for the information
techology companies now because hiring in the sector has slowed
significantly in the past several years. In fact, the number of
employees brought into the US through the H-1B programme never came
close to reaching the 195,000 annual capacity during the past three
years.

However, in 1999 and 2000, the programme hit its 115,000-people cap of
that period and left plenty of employers on the waiting list, prompting
companies to lobby for an expansion.

In 2001, when the ceiling was raised, 163,200 H-1B visas were approved.
After that, the numbers fell quickly. Just 79,100 workers immigrated
under the programme in 2002. In 2002, 56,000 visas were approved in the
first six months of the year, according to the Bureau of Citizenship
and Immigration Services.

Stohler predicted 80,000 applications next year, potentially leaving
some companies unable to hire the employees they want.

Asked about using a little of the lobbying muscle "tech organisations
exerted so forcefully three years ago", William T Archey, President and
Chief Executive of the AEA said, "we will accept the going back to
65,000 and lets see whats going on with the economy in the forseeable
future. If in fact there is a growth and much greater demand, lets
revisit this with the Congress."

Lately, the percentage of the first-time H-1B visa recipients going to
work in the technology industry has fallen dramatically, the Post
noted.

In 2001, 65 per cent of all H-1B visas were used to workers going to
high-tech companies but technology shares dropped to 34 per cent in
2002, according to a recent study by the Department of Homeland
Security's Office of Immigration Security

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