The Hindu Business Line : L-1 visas: 'Specialised knowledge' the contentious issue

ONCE again, election year in the US is making an impact on visas. And this time round, it is the turn of the L-visa, which is commonly split up into two groups — the L-1A, available for senior managers and executives, and the L-1B that are reserved for workers with "specialised knowledge".

The information technology industry in the US may put forward the argument that the US is the biggest winner, in the sense that it posts a substantial trade surplus with the rest of the world in IT software, unlike in other industries, plagued by constant and chronic deficits.

But law-makers, Republican and Democrat, are not impressed and are pushing for "changes", many of which are still only in the planning stage.

But there is the feeling in political and diplomatic circles that legislation will be inching forward this year on some sort of tightening up of the L-visas, the fact that this is an election year, both for Presidency and Congress, making it all the more sensitive.

Law-makers are expected to deal with the President's Guest Worker Programme as it relates to Mexicans and, in the process, are expected to address concerns on such other issues as the L-visa. In an election year, the prime motivation will be political, where economic growth and loss of white-collar jobs are sensitive issues.

That said it is also acknowledged that Capitol Hill will not go overboard in coming to terms with this specialised L-visa. Placing numerical caps in this category will be a pretty serious move but law-makers are seen moving towards tightening the existing language on what constitutes "specialised knowledge."

This is the area where much of the abuse takes place — where companies are supposedly bringing in people with little or no real expertise — sometimes to offset the caps placed in the H-1B visa category.

The definitional "squeeze" will be the first step that Congress is likely to take; and if this does not work, it will then get into other areas down the line.

Does India "deserve" the specialised attention in the L-visa category? It is not, supposed to if one takes a look at the statistics. Data from the Department of Homeland Security for fiscal 2002 show the numbers for the L-1 visa — or intra-company transferees — at 3,13,699. Of this figure, countries in Europe account for 1,46,546; Asia comes a distant second with 73,670 visas issued, and North America, South America, Oceania and Africa take the next places respectively.

Statistics show that within Asia, India comes in with 20,413 L-1 visas issued for fiscal 2002, less than Japan, which had a little over 31,000 visas issued.

If there is the continual focus on India, some of this has to do with what is happening in the IT sector in the US and in all the hue and cry raised over outsourcing. Some argue that there is a definite problem, but some others maintain that the so-called controversies are solely media-driven, with an emphasis on the emotional as opposed to what is taking place on the ground.

Aside from the so-called blatant "abuse" of what constitutes "specialised knowledge," the attention of law-makers has also been drawn to the implications of sub-contracting; and of Indian companies in the US winning contracts and then getting people on the L-visas from India to do the jobs here.

But testimonies of individuals and their experiences do matter. Take the case of Pat Fluno, a Master's degree holder and a certified computer programmer from Orlando, Florida. She and her co-workers lost their jobs at Siemens ICN at the Lake Mary and Boca Raton sites to L-1 visa holders from India.

"We lost our jobs and we had to train our replacements so there would be little interruptions to Siemens. This was the most humiliating experience of my life," Ms Fluno told law-makers, going on to ask how the Indian workers could come to the US without the "specialised knowledge" mandated by the L-1 visa.

And Sona Shah, who was born in India and came to the US when she was three, argued that the issue was not one of Indians versus Americans, or foreigners versus Americans.

"This is about reforming corporate abuse of unregulated visa programmes that are out of control," she remarked in her testimony to the International Relations Committee.

"The availability of the L-visa category to those applying under "specialised knowledge" — a vague term, at best, open to multiple and elastic interpretations — has done clear harm to the American workforce and contributed directly to the job losses since the most recent recession began, in 2000," remarked Mr Henry Hyde, Chairman of the House Committee at a hearing on Wednesday.

"It is unconscionable that American workers have been forced to train foreign guest-worker replacements as a condition for a few weeks more employment, only to be then fired from their jobs," Mr Hyde remarked, pointing to job losses in Illinois, the State he comes from.

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