Thread: Skilled-worker visa requests flood U.S.

Skilled-worker visa requests flood U.S.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- U.S. immigration officials have been inundated with visa requests this summer from foreigners claiming to be highly skilled.

The Citizenship and Immigration Services estimates it had received about 300,000 applications since July 1 under a special period set aside for highly skilled immigrants seeking green cards.

The New York Times said Saturday the usual number of applications for an entire year is 140,000.

The rush began after the U.S. State Department announced this summer it would make visas available for additional doctors, nurses and other professionals with advanced degrees. Many U.S. companies insist the pool of Americans who meet their lofty qualification standards is too small.

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2 ... d_us/8131/

I don't doubt this - the word is out - we're a soft touch.

Actually, however, I wonder how many of those 'foreigners' are our ver own illegal immigrants?

It is my belief our government is issuing green cards to the illegals at a very fast pace.

I'm not sure what this is about, I've asked activists who are more knowlegable than me offline, and will report back what I find out.

Do let us know.

I fear these no-match letters are simply to point out to employers their illegals that are at risk of being found out. The 90 days gives them time to get their visa papers in order - expedited probably by immigration.

Or for them to go to work for independent contractors - and then it will take 5 more years before they show up again as no-match - by then who knows what condition our country will be in.

The rush began after the U.S. State Department announced this summer it would make visas available for additional doctors, nurses and other professionals with advanced degrees. Many U.S. companies insist the pool of Americans who meet their lofty qualification standards is too small.

I have 2 problems with this

1. We are stealing resources from the 2nd and 3rd world countries (Doctors) etc. and bringing them here ..... get outta here ... how could we gut the world of doctors with a clear consious

2. Somehow I think the standard of doctor in these countries are just a little off kilter... not that they practice voo doo, but I have no faith in any doctor produced outside of the US

Many U.S. companies insist the pool of Americans who meet their lofty qualification standards is too small.

The lofty qualifications is they will work for less than Americans - in most cases.

There are gobs and gobs of foreign doctors and nurses already in this country. I am always surprised when I go into a hospital.

Language barrier is a concern of mine.

Once when my Stepfather was in a VA hospital, his doctor was Korean and couldn't speak English well enough to even hold a conversation with my MOhter about my Stepfather's condition. He had to draw pictures.

OK, here's as far as I can see what this is about: earlier this year, USCIS came under fire for a) having the process of transitioning from H-1B to green card be too slow for the liking of H-1B workers who came here during the years when the yearly H-1B cap was around 200K, and who now have applied for green cards, and b) shutting off the H-1B-to-green-card process earlier this year in some glitch (temporary, in other words, they plugged a bottleneck worse than it already was). This article says that there are more applications for visas for skilled workers - I can't tell if they mean more filings for green cards than were expected, or more people abroad thinking that the floodgates are open and trying to get H-1B visas. I do know that our embassies in India have been flooded with suspicious visa applications that they have been turning away, for example, a rickshaw driving asking for a business visa to get to America.

If I'm wrong, I will post a correction.

Coming from another point of view....

We originally were "dreaming" of a work Visa because to get my husband his Spousal Visa (CR-1) was nothing short of a nightmare at the time. I used to cry about it because as the American I felt stuck in another country and worked very hard to get us back here (long story). Getting this type of work Visa though is very very difficult, that's for sure and that's with my husband having a special degree. At least that did help him get a job right away here.

Anyway, I can't put doctors down from other countries because I've had some excellent care from them both here and over in England. England has a shortage of doctors too I believe.

BetsyRoss, that's odd about the applications there but maybe it's just a last hope, last shot at trying to get into the U.S. since most don't meet the requirement to get a Visa in the first place. Some see this type of Visa as a last-resort sort of thing maybe. Don't know but it sounds odd.

I don't doubt some of it is desperation.

Also, I don't doubt some may worry that we may actually get some changes made in our immigration system and they don't know what it will bring.

I am always skeptical that the government is sneaking something in behind our backs - and I fear/think some of these may be application from 'foreigners' right here in the US - illegal aliens, in other words - workers companies want to keep here.