Battle over USCIS Rule Change

Date: Friday, March 11, 2005 11:06 PM

JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

by Rob Sanchez
March 11, 2005 No. 1212

The battle lines are being drawn over the USCIS rule change that
eliminates the regulations written by Congress that requires that the
additional 20,000 visa holders that are allowed to work in the US have
advanced college degrees. On one side there is the ITAA and its sister
organization CompeteAmerica representing a coalition of more than 200
US corporations and universities, and on the other side are the
bodyshops and the vast majority of employers that don't require
Master's or PhDs for their employees. Dr. Norm Matloff characterized
this fight as "a battle between the Intels and the Tatas" because Intel
hires many H-1Bs that have advanced degrees while Tata typically hires
H-1Bs that have foreign degrees from non-U.S. universities such as IIT.
The Intel type employers thought that they had their visas reserved
with the old rules and highly resents that they may have to share them
with other employers under the new rules.

American workers can only watch the melee from the sidelines as the
rabid hyenas pick over the rotting carcass. Whatever comes out of this
battle you can bet that it will not be to the benefit of the 20,000
American workers that will be forced into unemployment as the stampedes
of new workers arrive on our shores. The issue to be settled in this
fight will be who gets the cheap labor and who is forced to hire more
expensive American workers. The one issue that won't matter is which
American workers will have to file for unemployment and suffer the loss
of their financial security. I hope the victims can file for bankruptcy
before the new bankruptcy rules are approved by Bush and our corporate
controlled Congress.

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http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9589_22-5609047.html

By Ed Frauenheim
URL: http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9589_22-5609047.html

The H-1B guest worker visa program continues to be a lightning rod for
criticism, with a business group blasting a federal agency for the way
it is putting into effect changes signed into law last year.
On Tuesday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it
is working on regulations related to the new law. It also indicated
that additional visas for this year, made possible by a fresh exemption
to the visa program, will be available to a range of workers--not just
to those with advanced degrees.

In December, President Bush signed a law that, among other things,
exempted from the H-1B annual cap of 65,000 up to 20,000 foreigners who
earn master's degrees or higher in the United States.

The cap for 2005 was reached on the very first day of the government's
fiscal year, Oct. 1. H-1B visas, which allow skilled foreigners to work
in the United States for up to six years, generally are given to
individuals holding a bachelor's degree or higher.

"The available petitions for (fiscal year) 2005 will be applied to all
qualified H-1B nonimmigrant aliens and will not be limited to those
individuals holding a master's degree or higher degree from a U.S.
institution of higher learning," USCIS said in a statement.

Compete America, a coalition that includes businesses, universities and
trade groups, criticized USCIS for undercutting congressional aims and
shifting course from earlier statements.

"The agency's decision to reverse its position on the allocation of the
additional visas is troubling at two levels," Lynn Shotwell, executive
director of the American Council on International Personnel, said in a
statement released by Compete America on Wednesday. "First, it seems to
ignore congressional intent. Second, it shows blatant disregard for the
business-planning process. Companies across the country have made
staffing decisions over the past four months based on the agency's
original statements."

Chris Bentley, a USCIS spokesman, stressed that the agency has not yet
put the finishing touches on its new rules. "It's too soon to be able
to comment," he said.

A statement from USCIS in December about the new law strongly suggested
that additional visas for 2005 would be reserved solely for those
holding advanced degrees. "The first 20,000 H-1B beneficiaries who have
earned a master's degree or higher from a U.S. institution of higher
education are not subject to the annual congressionally mandated H-1B
visa cap of 65,000. After those 20,000 slots are filled, USCIS is
required to count those cases against the cap for the remainder of the
fiscal year," the agency said in a statement. "For FY 2005, the new
provision will allow USCIS to accept new petitions on behalf of up to
20,000 beneficiaries meeting these criteria."

One interpretation of this statement, though, might be to treat the
first 20,000 visas already granted to people with advanced degrees in
2005 as those making up the exemption. In that case, another 20,000
visas for this year would be available under the cap to people with a
broader range of educational backgrounds.

An official at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security--the parent
agency to USCIS--said this line of reasoning was a possibility for the
final regulations. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.

H-1B visas have long been a flashpoint of controversy in the tech
industry. Thirty-nine percent of visa petitions approved in 2003 were
for workers in computer-related occupations, with nearly 37 percent of
all approvals that year for workers born in India.

Critics have blasted the H-1B program as undermining U.S. wages, being
ripe for abuse and fueling the shift of skilled work overseas. Industry
leaders have said the visas serve instead as a brake on offshoring.
They have also rejected the claim that H-1Bs amount to a cheap-labor
program, defending the visas as a means to fill shortages and give U.S.
companies access to international talent as they compete globally.

The annual cap, which primarily applies to applications for initial
employment, has fluctuated over the years. It fell from 195,000 in 2003
to 65,000 in 2004, when employers hit the visa limit less than halfway
through the fiscal year.

Despite recent changes in the law, battle lines are being drawn between
those who want to increase or eliminate the cap, and those who oppose
more H-1B visas.

Compete America also criticized USCIS for not yet accepting
applications for additional visas. The agency has advised employers to
wait until it publishes a rule concerning the new law and related
issues.

Although USCIS said provisions of the new H-1B law went into effect
Tuesday, spokesman Bentley said the agency isn't guilty of a delay. The
agency did not have to start accepting applications Tuesday, he said.

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http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1276310,00050001.htm

US to throw open new 20,000 H-1B visas to all

S Rajagopalan

Washington, March 11, 2005|02:56 IST

Heres some good news for Indians in the hunt for the USs prized
H-1B visas.

In a significant change, the US immigration authorities have broadened
the applicant pool for the new 20,000 H-1B visas this year. These visas
have now been thrown open to all.

The earlier decision was to limit this new lot of work visas to
applicants with a masters or doctorate degree from an American
university. That anyway was what the US Congress had proposed last
November.

Announcing the change, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services
(USCIS) has said: "The available petitions for FY 2005 will be applied
to all qualified H-1B non-immigrant aliens, and will not be limited to
those individuals holding a masters degree or higher degree from a
US institution of higher learning."

It will start accepting applications after the new regulations,
currently under preparation, are published in the Federal Register.
Applications made prior to that will be rejected, it cautioned.

While the USCISs change is welcome news for those with Indian and
other non-US degrees, the decision has been criticised by Compete
America that had lobbied hard for the additional 20,000 H-1B visas
last year.

A coalition of more than 200 US corporations and universities, this
group argues that the USCIS move is contrary to what Congress approved
in the H-1B Visa Reform Act of 2004. It says the new visas should be
restricted to foreign nationals with American degrees so that the US
can retain the people it has trained.

The push for the new 20,000 visas came after the annual quota of 65,000
H-1B visas was exhausted on day one of the new American fiscal year on
October 1, 2004.

H-1B visas allow non-US citizens to take up specialty occupations on a
temporary basis, of up to six years. In recent years, these visas have
been dominated by Indian computer engineers, programmers and database
administrators.

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