Thread: Demand decreases for U.S. work visas

Demand decreases for U.S. work visas

Updated 48m ago
By Emily Bazar, USA TODAY

Demand has dropped for visas that bring foreigners to the USA for jobs at software companies, hospitals and other workplaces.

Since the annual application period began April 1, Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) has received 45,000 applications for H-1B visas, those issued to workers with special skills for up to six years. That's 20,000 less than the yearly cap of 65,000.

In the past two years, all 65,000 spots were snapped up within two days.

"It's because the economy's tanking," says Carl Shusterman, a Los Angeles immigration attorney whose office prepared about 40 applications this year, half of what it did last year. H-1B applications are submitted by employers, and many are doing less hiring, he says.

In addition to the 65,000, there's a separate cap of 20,000 for foreign workers with advanced degrees from U.S. institutions. That has nearly been met, says CIS spokeswoman Chris Rhatigan.

Robert Hoffman, vice president for government relations of software maker Oracle, says demand for the visas tracks the economy. Hoffman is co-chair of Compete America, a coalition of employers and others that promotes policies that allow skilled foreigners to work here.

As industries such as biotechnology and renewable energy boomed this decade, so did their need for skilled workers, he says. In the past two years, anticipating stiff competition, "there was a rush to get applications in as early as possible," he says.

Like many other companies, however, Oracle applied for fewer H-1B visas this year than it did last year, says Hoffman, who says it was related to the economy but declines to give specifics.

Rhatigan says the slower pace reflects normal fluctuations in applications.

She points to 2006, when it took 56 days to meet the 65,000 cap — more than twice as fast as the year before. Figures from 2000 to 2008, though, show accelerating interest in applications.

Critics of H-1B visas include the Programmers Guild, a professional organization for computer programmers. The guild argues that H-1B visas allow companies to get rid of Americans and hire lower-paid foreign workers.

Last week, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois introduced a bill that Grassley says would require employers to try to recruit Americans first, including advertising on a new Labor Department website.

Grassley says that's especially important in the sagging economy. "We want people to be able to employ people to get the job done," he says, "but it should be when there aren't enough American workers here."

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Are the illegal aliens taking these jobs too ?

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