Wall Street Journal
By Miriam Jordan
April 1, 2014
An
annual quota for coveted skilled-worker visas is expected to be met in a
matter of days, meaning U.S. employers hoping to hire through the
program will see the outcome
determined by lottery.
U.S.
firms each year can sponsor a total of 65,000 foreigners with at least a
bachelor's degree for a so-called H-1B visa, many of which go to
computer programmers and
other specialized workers. The program allocates an additional 20,000
visas each year to foreign nationals with a master's degree or higher
earned in the U.S.
The
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency that
oversees the program, began taking applications Tuesday for jobs
starting in October or later. It
said in a statement that it anticipates receiving "more than enough
petitions" to reach both caps by next Monday. "The agency is prepared to
use a random selection process to meet the numerical limit," it added.
Last
year, for the first time since 2008, employers reached the
congressionally mandated limit less than a week after the April 1 start
date. For a few years, the feeble
economy left thousands of H-1B spots unfilled until later in the
season. But demand has accelerated as companies have resumed hiring.
Companies
apply for an H-1B with a job candidate in mind, a process that
typically involves immigration attorneys and a cost of several thousand
dollars a petition. The
visas are granted for three years but can be renewed for six.
Many H-1Bs are issued to offshore outsourcing companies, especially from
India, that have U.S. subsidiaries. Some critics of the program say
those companies send foreign
workers to the U.S. to learn jobs and then move them back overseas.
U.S.
companies have been lobbying for Congress to raise the number of H-1Bs
available. A Senate bill to overhaul the nation's immigration system,
which hasn't been taken
up by the House, would eventually nearly triple the number of visas to
as many as 180,000 annually.
Steve
Miller, a Seattle-based attorney who specializes in employment
immigration, has seen a 50% increase in filings this year from 2013.
From Fortune 500 to startup companies,
"our clients are hiring more," said Mr. Miller.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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