Thread: New H-1B visas still available

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New H-1B visas still available

By Ed Frauenheim


Story last modified Tue Jul 12 14:19:00 PDT 2005

Employers still aren't close to snapping up the 20,000 extra H-1B visas Congress authorized for this year, a possible sign that demand for foreign tech workers is flagging.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Tuesday said that as of June 29, it had received 8,069 petitions for the additional guest worker visas, which are reserved for skilled foreign workers with an advanced degree from a U.S. institution.

The 20,000 visas were approved by Congress after this year's annual cap of 65,000 visas was reached as of the very first day of the federal fiscal year, Oct. 1, 2004.

H-1B visas, which allow computer programmers and other skilled foreigners to work in the United States for up to six years, have been the subject of fierce debate in the tech industry. More than 600,000 new visas have been granted since 2000, many of them to foreign tech workers; in 2003, for example, 39 percent of H-1B visas approved were for workers in computer-related occupations.

Critics say the H-1B program fuels the shift of skilled-labor positions offshore, is ripe for abuse and undermines U.S. wages.

Industry leaders argue that H-1Bs serve instead as a brake on offshoring. They also defend the visas as a means to ease skilled-labor shortages and give U.S. companies access to international talent as they compete globally.

Slack demand for the controversial visas is somewhat puzzling. Businesses had called for an exemption along the lines of the one Congress passed.

Tepid interest in the 20,000 extra visas this year could signal that tech employers either are filling their openings with U.S. workers or limiting their U.S. hiring overall--possibly thanks to a shift of work overseas.

Previous Next The continued availability of H-1Bs for 2005 could weaken the argument for increasing the annual limit, which has changed over the years. Business leaders including Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates have called for an unlimited number of H-1Bs. Critics of the visa program oppose lifting the annual ceiling.

There was some confusion about how USCIS would allocate the new 20,000 visas. But the agency clarified its position in May, which is also when it began accepting applications for the additional visas.

On May 24, the agency said it had received petitions for 6,400 of the 20,000 new visas.

An extra 20,000 visas earmarked for workers with advanced degrees from U.S. institutions also will be available in future years under the new law. The H-1B program also provides exemptions to the annual cap for institutions of higher education, nonprofit research organizations and governmental research organizations.

Geesh! I'm a born and bred US legal citizen since way long before birth if such a claim is possible or allowed now. Ancestors of mine have been here for centuries, even coming over on the Mayflower; does this even matter now!. I'm looking for a job. Do you think I'd have a chance at these silly HB visas at securing at least a three year temporary job just as many foreign nationals do? If not, forward me to civil rights and anti-racist groups sucj as ACLU. Tell ALCU that I want to SPEAK DIRECTLY WITH THEM. If you are willing to help in my job search, please drop me or the employer's a message. If not and they are not interested in me, please tell them (the employers hiring these Visa freaks that they are cordially invited to go sc#$## themselves.

ACLU only represents pedophiles and illegal aliens. Sorry noillegalimmigrationannie, they will not be able to help you.

BUT HEY!! I have an idea. Call the Government that issued the H1B Visas and tell them you would like a job. Maybe they'll transfer you to Elaine Chao Secretary of the United States Department of Labor, who tried to snuff everyone making $11 an hour or less out of their automatic over-time pay. That's a real American idea, isn't it? Cheat the lower end workers out of their over-time but protect the higher end workers? Sounds like Chinese Checkers to me. Oh...but wait....Chao is from China.

Gosh....no wonder nothing is making sense in the US Labor Department in recent years.



I hope you find work soon, Annie. Have you been to the local Employment Security Office and demanded a job? Demand to know who is taking all the new jobs the US Department of Labor touts? Maybe you have a Civil Rights complaint you can take to your state Attorney General's Office. Most states enforce civil rights under a state civil rights statute similar to the US Civil Rights Legislation.

Make a stink, raise some heck, demand a job!!

(I think it's funny about the H1B Visas....makes you wonder if employer's are getting the message and hiring American or if Congress just went "berserk" in their "aims to please" their contributors and miscalculated how many butts they were supposed to kiss.) In any event, it's a sure signal that THEY WEREN'T NEEDED to begin with.

Liars, liars, pants afire!!