Visa Application Period Opens for Highly Skilled Workers
JULIA PRESTON



The annual sweepstakes for visas for highly skilled temporary foreign workers begins on Tuesday, the opening day for applications to the vastly oversubscribed immigration program that is the center of a growing controversy in Congress.

The federal authorities will accept petitions from employers for 65,000 temporary work visas, known as H-1Bs, that are available for the year that starts Oct. 1. Last year, the agency received enough petitions to cover the annual quota on the first day applications were accepted. About half of the total petitions filed were rejected because the supply of visas had run out.

Technology companies have urged Congress to raise the annual limit, saying they face damaging shortages of the computer engineers and software technicians that these visas attract.

But a number of lawmakers, led by Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, and Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, say foreign companies have used the program to import workers who compete against Americans and lower wage rates. The senators oppose increasing the number of H-1B visas without closing loopholes in the program.

Citizenship and Immigration Services has said that it will accept H-1B visa petitions over five business days, ending April 7. Last year the agency closed the application period after one day because the quota had already been surpassed. In mid-April, the agency will run a computerized lottery to choose about 65,000 petitions.

“We want to make sure everyone has the opportunity to get their petition in to make the process as fair as possible,â€