H-1B Floodgate About to Open
H-1B Floodgate About to Open
Date: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 1:07 PM
JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER
by Rob Sanchez
April 12, 2005 No. 1233
Employers are standing in line to hire a new batch of 20,000 H-1Bs that
Congress authorized in the 2004 Omnibus spending bill. Articles are
appearing all over the nation as the excitement builds before the
opening of the floodgate. There is a hitch though - many employers
aren't sure if they will be able to get a piece of the visa pie. That's
because Congress mandated that the new batch of H-1B visa holders must
be a graduate of a U.S. university with master's degrees or higher.
Adding to the confusion, in March, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services (USCIS) announced that they will not limit applicants to
foreigners with advanced degrees.
The USCIS clearly overstepped their authority when they announced they
would not screen the 20,000 H-1B applicants as mandated by Congress.
Now they seem to be backing down, and employers meanwhile are fighting
each other over who will get the visas. Intel, for an example, has
already chosen their H-1Bs under the original rules and doesn't to
share their allotment with other companies. Meanwhile the CIS said that
they will announce the requirements for the additional visas in the
Federal Register but they are unclear on when that is to occur. Expect
a gigantic feeding frenzy to begin once the CIS announcement is
published.
20,000 more visas aren't enough to keep everyone happy either - they
want more. Miami immigration lawyer Michael A. Bander said that
employers need at least 50,000 more H-1B visas. Texas Instruments is
howling that they need more H-1Bs because they can't find qualified
Americans. TI says that 4% of their total workforce is H-1Bs, but that
number is deceiving because their stated average is derived by counting
all employees including secretaries, managers, accountants, etc. The
percentage of H-1Bs at TI is much higher in their engineering and IT
departments.
The education requirements aren't the only problems confronting these
slobbering employers. This is so good that someone in the press is
probably going to accuse one of us activists of planting someone in the
USCIS to gum things up! Sometimes you just gotta love government
bureaucracy and inefficiency.
USCIS also muddied the waters by announcing that the old
forms for H-1B petitions would no longer be acceptable.
This caused most immigration lawyers to hurry and redo
paperwork on new forms in order to be ready to file one
at a moment's notice. However, the USCIS then announced
that the old forms would be acceptable until April 30.
The last article is the best because it has some interesting tidbits
about L-1. Tata Consultancy Services has more than 40 people employed
in the Camp Hill office. Of those a spokesman said that 15 have H-1B
visas and 20 to 25 are here on L-1 visas while seven are local hires.
Since we know that all of Tata's H-1B and L-1 visa holders are Indian
it would be very interesting to see who they hired in Pennsylvania
besides upper-caste Indians.
I had to read this several times because at first I couldn't believe
what I was seeing. Steve Lamb should be given some kind of award for
patriotism!
Steve Lamb, vice president of technology at NetComm
Solutions Inc. in Mechanicsburg, said his company doesn't
have employees on temporary work visas.
"I will tell you that there is a great pool of home-grown
talent in the area," he said. "Anytime I have an available
technical position, there are dozens and dozens of responses
from some very talented candidates that live and work in our
local area."
Articles Used for this Newsletter
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/
Visas allow more high-tech workers to come
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/12713594p-13565949c.html
Conflicting visa news has local firms worried
http://www.mcall.com/business/local/all-visasapr10,0,2777910.story?coll=
all-businesslocal-hed
As government cap on visas rises, so does the confusion
American businesses say they need the skills of overseas workers.
http://www.indusbusinessjournal.com/news/2005/04/01/Immigration/Attorneys.Fight.laughable.H1B.Visa.Mess-912896.shtml
Attorneys fight 'laughable' H1-B visa mess
http://www.pennlive.com/business/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/business/1112437233136720.xml
Foreign matter
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/
Posted on Wed, Apr. 06, 2005
IMMIGRATION
Visas allow more high-tech workers to come
A new allotment of 20,000 H-1B visas will allow employers to bring in
U.S.-educated foreigners with special skills.
BY CHRISTINA HOAG
choag@herald.com
Splinex Technology is in hiring mode. The Fort Lauderdale company plans
to more than double its 40-member staff this year to capture rising
demand for its imaging software, used in everything from biometrics to
satellite mapping.
That's if it can find enough trained engineers to design the
cutting-edge systems. When looking for U.S. citizens and residents
exclusively, finding those engineers can be tough. Splinex, for
example, has had to import Russians to work.
''There's always a limited pool of talent -- we want to hire the best,
U.S. citizens or not,'' said Michael Stodja, president and chief
executive.
Splinex may soon find it a little easier to fill its ranks.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service is preparing to open the
gate to an additional 20,000 H-1B visas, which allow U.S. companies to
bring in university-educated foreigners to fill jobs requiring
specialized skills and knowledge.
For the new program, applicants must be graduates of U.S. educational
institutions with master's degrees or higher.
''We're reviewing the guidelines and want to get this out as soon as we
can,'' said CIS spokesman Christopher Bentley.
The new allotment, which Congress approved as part of the H-1B Visa
Reform Act of 2004, will be on top of the current annual H-1B quota of
65,000 visas.
The program will bring particular relief to companies in the science
and engineering fields, who often cannot find enough qualified U.S.
citizens and residents to meet their burgeoning demand.
''From a competitive standpoint, the U.S. has one of the best
university systems in the world, which is why foreigners are attracted
to it but they come here, get educated and go home. We can't get access
to them,'' Stodja said.
But 20,000 extra visas probably isn't enough to fill the demand. Miami
immigration lawyer Michael A. Bander predicted the visas will be
snapped up quickly.
''It's a very positive step forward, the problem is that it's not
enough,'' he said. ``It's going to be a very competitive race to get
them.''
A more realistic number would be 50,000, he said.
CIS will start accepting applications for the visas after the program's
rules are published in the U.S. Federal Register. Bentley said he
expected that to occur soon.
Weston immigration attorney Keil Hackley said she already has clients
queued up to apply immediately.
''Physicians and construction management,'' she said. ''There's a dire
shortage of workers in construction across the board, from master's
degrees to day workers. We have to keep lobbying Congress for a more
appropriate number'' of visas.
Demand for H-1Bs has been white-hot since 2003, when Congress slashed
the annual quota from 195,000 to 65,000 -- the program's original level
dating from the 1980s.
Now, the annual quota of visas is issued months before the year
expires.
The process has also become much more rigorous with increased
background checks instituted after 9/11.
Stodja said the new program could really prove a boon to Florida-based
high-tech companies, who commonly find it's much easier to lure
foreigners to the Sunshine state than Californians or Bostonites,
although it's much more expensive. Obtaining an H-1B visa costs a
company $4,000 to $15,000 in expenses and lawyer's fees.
''Florida isn't exactly a hub for software technology,'' he said. ``But
to someone from Siberia. . .''
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/12713594p-13565949c.html
Conflicting visa news has local firms worried
By Emily Bazar -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Get weekday updates of Sacramento Bee headlines and breaking news. Sign
up here.
Though federal officials soon will begin issuing an additional 20,000
visas for highly skilled foreign workers, some area companies don't
know if they'll be able to participate.
The federal government initially said the new batch of H-1B visas -
which could be available within days - must be awarded to graduates of
U.S. universities with master's degrees or higher.
But in March, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) announced
that the additional visas will not be limited to applicants with
advanced degrees.
The discrepancy has not been officially addressed, and has resulted in
perplexed employers from Sacramento to Florida.
"Count us confused," said Tracy Koon, director of corporate affairs for
Intel Corp., which employs 6,500 people at its Folsom campus.
Intel lobbied for the additional visas, Koon said, and wants them to be
limited to applicants with advanced degrees.
"Those are the people who are the most difficult to find, and they're
the hardest positions to fill with U.S. citizens," she said. "The U.S.
is graduating fewer Americans with these kinds of skills."
H-1B visas allow skilled foreign nationals to work in the United States
for up to six years. Many go on to obtain lawful permanent residence,
also known as green-card status.
Though this visa category is often associated with information
technology workers and engineers, it is also used by fashion models,
architects, writers and members of other professions.
After the dot-com bust, Congress reduced the annual quota of H-1B visas
from 195,000 to 65,000.
That quota has been filled early in subsequent years, and companies
have complained that they're unable to obtain visas for potential
employees.
As part of the H-1B Visa Reform Act of 2004, Congress called for an
additional 20,000 visas annually, on top of the 65,000 quota.
Chris Bentley, a spokesman for CIS in Washington, D.C., said the
requirements for the additional visas will be clear when they're
published soon in the Federal Register.
The March announcement discounting the advanced degrees was
"premature," he said.
"Employers are going to know when, where and how to file for the new
20,000 exemptions," he said.
Kim Berry, a Citrus Heights resident who is president of the
Programmers Guild, believes the additional visas are unnecessary, and
will take jobs from American workers. The guild is an organization of
computer programmers.
"There's no provision that qualified Americans should be considered
first when these visas are granted," he said. "If you bring in 20,000
more visas, that's 20,000 more American workers added to the
unemployment rate."
Berry said employers prefer foreign workers because they're cheaper and
are tied to an employer for a period of years.
But Intel's Koon said her company must pay visa and legal fees to hire
foreign workers.
"It costs us more to hire with an H-1B," she said.
Ajay Kaul, managing partner of AgreeYa Solutions in Folsom, said his
business and consulting firm occasionally hires workers on H-1B visas.
He's looking forward to the additional 20,000 visas, because the
quickly filled quota has prevented him from hiring two employees, he
said.
One of the applicants has a master's degree and the other has a
bachelor's, he said.
As a result, Kaul said, he's waiting eagerly for the requirements to be
posted in the Federal Register, so he knows whom he can hire.
"To us," he said, "it does make a difference."
About the writer: The Bee's Emily Bazar can be reached at (916)
321-1016 or ebazar@sacbee.com.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.mcall.com/business/local/all-visasapr10,0,2777910.story?coll=
all-businesslocal-hed
From The Morning Call
As government cap on visas rises, so does the confusion
American businesses say they need the skills of overseas workers.
By S. Mitra Kalita
Of The Washington Post
April 10, 2005
WASHINGTON | The two engineers have been ready for months. One waits in
Colombia, the other in Argentina.
They are experts in wind technology, a fast-growing segment of the
electricity industry. Their employer, Granite Services Inc. of Tampa,
Fla., says projects have been delayed as it awaits their arrival -- and
their visas.
So the company's human resources manager keeps an Internet browser open
to the Federal Register, clicking its refresh button every few minutes.
How many visas remain? Should applicants hold a master's or doctorate?
Will a bachelor's do?
The agency in charge is also looking for answers.
Last month, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, an arm of the
Department of Homeland Security, said it would issue an additional
20,000 visas for highly skilled foreign workers because this year's cap
had already been met. All 65,000 of the H-1B visas for this year were
filled by U.S. businesses on Oct. 1, the first day of the government's
fiscal year. In response to complaints from businesses, Congress in
November passed legislation approving the additional visas, saying they
should go to graduates of U.S. institutions with an advanced degree.
But last month, the immigration agency said the visas could go to
anyone with a bachelor's degree, confusing businesses and immigration
lawyers.
As of Thursday, agency officials said Homeland Security and the Office
of Management and Budget were still reviewing the criteria for the
20,000 visas. Christopher S. Bentley, a spokesman for Citizenship and
Immigration Services, said businesses will have to wait for guidance
advising them on who qualifies and how to apply.
''We can't comment on what exactly is going to happen,'' he said. ''The
hows, where and whats will all be summed up in that guidance. ... We
want to make sure this is done properly.''
The discrepancy in details underscores the business community's
criticisms of U.S. immigration policy. It also foreshadows a growing
debate between government and business over immigration, one that has
not been as fervent since the tech boom of the late 1990s. Back then,
as programmers worked to stop anticipated Y2K problems, the industry
lobbied Congress hard to increase the number of foreign workers they
could hire, successfully increasing the cap to as high as 195,000 in
some years. These same companies recruited engineers from overseas with
competing offers, expense accounts and limousine rides awaiting their
arrival in the United States.
The H-1B visa allows holders to live and work legally in the United
States for up to six years. Many go on to receive green cards and live
permanently in the United States; others go home.
When boom went bust, many did go home as the hunger for overseas
workers -- and the visas -- waned. Last year, the cap on H-1B visas
returned to 65,000, a number established by Congress in the 1990s.
Now, as the tech economy attempts a comeback, buoyed by security
contracts and federal investments, lobbying efforts to raise the H-1B
cap have resumed.
''The company goes through periods when it's hiring and when it's not
hiring. We are tracking on an upward direction,'' said Dan Larson, a
lobbyist for Texas Instruments Inc. ''These people who have the H-1B
visa, they have the skills and training which is very cutting edge ...
which is exactly where the semiconductor industry is.'' Four percent of
the Dallas company's U.S. work force of 20,000 is on an H-1B visa.
Critics of the visa program say employers aren't looking hard enough in
the United States and have used the program to import cheaper labor.
They accuse these same employers of abusing the program's mandate to
pay workers a ''prevailing wage.''
''You can hire a computer programmer and pay $12.50 per hour and that
passes muster as prevailing wage,'' said Ron Hira, a vice president for
the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers-USA, a
professional society representing 220,000 engineers.
Companies retort that the filing fees to sponsor H-1B visas -- applied
toward training for U.S. workers -- have increased from hundreds of
dollars to thousands, and that they also have to pay thousands in
lawyers' fees and moving expenses.
''We have to spend a lot of money to bring in H-1Bs,'' said Dierdre
Spear Petee, vice president of global human resources at Granite
Services. ''It's not a matter of finding cheap labor. It is really and
truly for our business meant to find qualified workers.''
Last week, employers were given permission to begin filing applications
for next year's H-1B visas, a process some found illogical since they
don't know what the outcome of this year and the additional 20,000
visas will be. Still, Petee told the company's lawyer to file for her
wind-technology experts, who hold bachelor's degrees and some
additional training, so they had a chance of arriving by October at the
latest.
She said the engineering services and power generation company will
probably need more engineers in the coming year -- engineers she said
the United States doesn't produce enough of -- but she doesn't know yet
how many. ''Those needs won't be apparent until after the window for
applications closes, and then, either the jobs will go unfilled, or
they'll be filled with people who don't meet the qualifications, which
will result in higher costs for training, overtime and longer outages
for the utility companies.''
Faced with the choice of outsourcing work overseas or importing
workers, some entrepreneurs say the time and money and uncertainty
associated with the H-1B program make their choice clear. ''The cost
has risen substantially and the quota has decreased,'' said Jitendra
Vyas, chief executive of Technology Ventures LLC. ''I think outsourcing
is increasing substantially.''
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.indusbusinessjournal.com/news/2005/04/01/Immigration/Attorneys.Fight.laughable.H1B.Visa.Mess-912896.shtml
Indus Business Journal - Immigration
Issue: 4/1/05
Attorneys fight 'laughable' H1-B visa mess
By Martin Desmarais
WASHINGTON - What began as a relief, for many thousands of students and
workers seeking H-1B visas, has now turned into an agonizing waiting
game as the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has indefinitely
delayed the date for new applications.
Those left out in the cold for a complete year, when the 65,000 H-1B
quota was exhausted on the very first day it opened on Oct.1 2004,
rejoiced late last year when the government announced 20,000 more visas
would be made available.
The additional visas were part of the Omnibus Appropriations Bill
signed by President George W. Bush in December, which included the
clause that exempts up to 20,000 people from the H-1B cap, who have a
master's degree or higher from U.S. schools.
USCIS said it would start accepting up to 20,000 H-1B petitions from
applicants that have U.S. graduate-level degrees, beginning March 8.
Only as March 8 approached last month, USCIS announced that the 20,000
additional H-1Bs would no longer be limited to applicants with graduate
degrees - good news for the immigrant community, except that the USCIS
also said applicants should not file petitions for H-1Bs on March 8,
but should instead wait until it publishes a new date for filing.
USCIS also said it "will reject any new H-1B petition that is received
prior to the filing date set forth."
Well, the immigrant community is still waiting. As of press time on
Wed. March 23, USCIS had not released the new date for filing H-1B
petitions.
Immigration lawyers were optimistic, but dismayed by the recent turn of
events.
"It's been a topsy-turvy time," said Susan Cohen, who manages the
immigration section of Mintz Levin Cohn Glovsky and Popeo PC.
She said that she had numerous filings ready to go when USCIS announced
that the March 8 date would not be honored, and is now stuck holding
them and waiting, poised to file and "constantly monitoring the
situation."
Timing is even more crucial now that USCIS has opened up the 20,000
H-1Bs to any applicant.
"The problem is only 20,000 are made available and now anyone can get
them," she said. "It seems highly likely that more than 20,000
petitions are going to be filed."
USCIS also muddied the waters by announcing that the old forms for H-1B
petitions would no longer be acceptable. This caused most immigration
lawyers to hurry and redo paperwork on new forms in order to be ready
to file one at a moment's notice. However, the USCIS then announced
that the old forms would be acceptable until April 30.
The back and forth dance is something that has Cohen, a twenty-year
veteran of immigration law, amazed.
"It is unprecedented. I've never seen anything like this," she said.
"It has just been one unbelievable announcement after the next."
"It is almost laughable the announcements that are coming from the
government," she added.
According to Cohen, it has gotten to the point where some lawyers are
talking about filing H-1B petitions only to have them rejected and then
suing the government because the Omnibus Appropriations Bill put a law
in place to accept applications on March 8.
She said she was more interested, however, in getting her clients'
visas approved.
Cohen called the whole mess a "disservice" and said it points to one
thing above all else.
"Clearly there just aren't enough of these H-1B visas to go around,"
she said. "There is a demand that exceeds the supply."
Roy Watson, managing partner of Watson Law Offices in Boston, agrees
that the situation is a perfect illustration that there is a need for
more H-1B visas.
Watson traveled to Washington last month to try and get a better handle
on the situation.
"There is a lot of speculation," he said about his visit. "There is a
lot of political stuff going on."
Watson sympathized with the government's move in opening up the 20,000
H-1B slots to anyone and going back to break out all the previous H-1Bs
granted to those with a graduate degree or higher from U.S. schools and
equating that number to the 20,000 that was originally going to be
extended. This, he said, keeps visas from getting lost if only 10,000
applicants with graduate degrees applied for the additional 20,000.
"They are maximizing the use of the visas," he said.
Watson said that there was hope in Washington that Congress might
intervene to help get a date set, but things are "still up in the air."
"They know they have to get it out and get it out soon," he added.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.pennlive.com/business/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/business/1112437233136720.xml
Foreign matter
Most temporary work visas go to tech employees
Sunday, April 03, 2005
BY DAVID DeKOK
Of The Patriot-News
Few issues in the business world arouse more public concern than
American companies giving jobs to foreign workers brought in from
overseas.
Many types of temporary work visas are available to foreign workers,
but the one most often in the news is the H-1B visa. This is the visa
most commonly sought by technology companies, including several in
central Pennsylvania, to bring in skilled foreign information
technology workers with bachelor's degrees or higher.
Those foreign workers often are from India or China, but they can be
from anywhere, including Canada.
"We aren't educating enough professionals to fill these jobs," said Tom
Richwine, CEO of Mechanicsburg-based Immigration Support Services,
which helps businesses handle visa paper work. "The primary users are
ordinary employers who want to hire tech professionals."
About 171,000 companies nationwide asked the Immigration and
Naturalization Service about temporary work visas in 2004, Richwine
said. About 5,000 of those companies operate in Pennsylvania. Richwine
said there could be more because not every company or school with an
H-1B employee needs to approach the INS every year.
H-1B visas are good for three years and can be extended for three more
years. After that, employees must either get a "green card," which
gives them immigrant status and an indefinite permit to work in the
United States, or return to their native lands.
Congress cut back to 65,000 the number of H-1B visas that could be
issued this year. Those were gone on Oct. 1, 2004, the first day of
fiscal 2005. More recently, Congress added 20,000 more H-1B visas for
people with master's degrees or above.
In fiscal 2000, 2001 and 2002, Richwine said, Congress allocated
195,000 H-1B visas, although he said the number actually applied for
rarely exceeded 170,000.
One midstate company that lost out in the H-1B sweepstakes this year
was Infotech Consulting Inc. in Mechanicsburg. Mohun Kapur, a spokesman
for the company, said InfoTech tried to get some Indian workers with
skills in a particular variety of Unisys software that is still in wide
use in the United States.
"We were looking for one or two people, but because of the
restrictions, we couldn't get them," Kapur said. "But the overall
impact on our business was pretty small."
About 20 percent of InfoTech's 225 employees are here on H-1B visas, he
said.
InfoTech has no employees with L-1 visas, which can be used by U.S.
companies to bring in existing employees from foreign offices to work
here. So if InfoTech had, say, an office in Bangalore, India, it could
bring an employee from that office to the United States on an L-1 visa,
which has fewer restrictions.
Richwine said H-1B visa holders must be paid the prevailing U.S. wage
rate for the job they hold. L-1 visa holders, on the other hand, can be
paid what their salary was in their own country.
The Camp Hill office of Tata Consultancy Services, a large Indian
computer services firm, is another significant employer of people with
temporary work visas. K. Ganesan, human resources director for the
company's U.S. operations, said more than 40 people are employed in the
Camp Hill office. Of those, he said, 15 have H-1B visas and 20 to 25
are here on L-1 visas. Seven are local hires.
Ganesan said Tata has not had trouble hiring people on temporary work
visas, and the lower H-1B quota did not hurt the business.
A non-Indian-related company in the midstate that has always had a few
people with H-1B visas or green cards is WebClients.net, an online
direct-marketing firm that occupies the former Merchants &
Businessman's Insurance building on Front Street in Harrisburg.
Josh Gray, CEO of WebClients, said two tech employees have H-1B visas
and two have green cards. The company does most of its recruiting in
the region, and got three of those employees that way. The fourth was a
database specialist from out of state hired through a headhunter.
WebClients recently used Immigration Support Services to obtain a green
card for a valued Canadian employee who was coming to the end of his
H-1B visa eligibility. Shannon Gierasch, the company's human resources
director and general counsel, said they had to jump through a number of
bureaucratic hoops for the green card.
"We had to run a recruitment campaign to show that we couldn't find a
citizen, or an existing green card holder, to fill the position," she
said. "You have to really want to keep someone, and they must be
essential to the organization."
Steve Lamb, vice president of technology at NetComm Solutions Inc. in
Mechanicsburg, said his company doesn't have employees on temporary
work visas.
"I will tell you that there is a great pool of home-grown talent in the
area," he said. "Anytime I have an available technical position, there
are dozens and dozens of responses from some very talented candidates
that live and work in our local area."
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