The Hindu Business Line : US IT sector seeks hike in cap for H1B visas

`The inability to hire enough skilled talent born outside the US - many of whom have been educated in US institutions of higher education - harms the ability of the US to compete in an increasingly global economy.'

New Delhi , Oct. 12

WITH the 65,000 H-1B visas cap reached at the start of the US Government's fiscal year, the American IT industry is seeking a "substantial" increase in the cap on the visa program for this year (which began October 1, 2005) and future years arguing that US' economic competitors such as Canada and Australia are reaching out aggressively beyond their borders to attract skilled talent in IT.

In an e-mail interview to Business Line, Mr Harris N. Miller, President of Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), said at a time that "US companies needs to be able to hire the best and brightest wherever they are born", the H-1B cap for federal fiscal year 2006 was reached before the year even began with the Government announcing it had so many applications by mid-summer that it could accept any more. "The inability to hire enough skilled talent born outside the US - many of whom have been educated in US institutions of higher education - harms the ability of the US to compete in an increasingly global economy," he said.

Another issue pertained to the stretched out processing time for those going through the H-1B approval process - now taking several months, instead of several weeks as in the past.

ITAA President said the annual numerical limits on permanent immigrants who had high skills, is also getting to be a problem. "Those caps mean that individuals who are otherwise qualified to convert from a temporary worker status, such as H-1B or L-1, cannot do so because there are not sufficient numbers. Because the temporary visas are all time limited, for instance, six years for an H-1B, and because some employers in the US want to hire those people on a permanent basis, we need to have sufficient numbers in the permanent program," Mr Miller said.

Asked if the high tech industry in the US was in favour of an `immigration reform package', Mr Miller declined to comment on specific legislative strategy, but said, "ITAA is educating Congress about the negative impact on the US economy of this problem, and seeking remedies."

It may be recalled that in August this year, the US Citizenship and Immigration Service said it has already received enough H1-B petitions to reach fiscal 2006 visa cap of 65,000. H-1B visas allow employers to have access to highly educated foreign professionals who have experience in specialised areas and who have at least a bachelor's degree or the equivalent. Under current law, the program is capped at 65,000, down from 195,000 in financial year 2003. In November 2004, Congress created an exemption for 20,000 foreign nationals earning advanced degrees from US universities.

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US IT sector seeks hike in cap for H1B visas