The Hindu Business Line : Rush for H1B visas unabated

The rush for H-1B visa continues unabated with US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) receiving 49,034 H-1B applications as on May 25, 2006, against the overall stipulated cap of 65,000 for the financial year 2007.

According to the latest update issued by USCIS, 7,718 applications for H-1B visas were approved, while 41,316 applications were pending. In the case of H-1B Advance Degree Exemption, USCIS said that against the ceiling of 20,000 visas available for the fiscal, about 5,830 petitions were received. Of this, 1,672 petitions were approved and 4,158 applications were pending.

Share declines

Meanwhile, the latest report by US Congressional Research Service (CRS) has revealed that India's share amongst fresh H-1B arrivals dropped to 27.8 per cent in the financial year 2003 against 45.2 per cent share in the financial year 2001, although the country continued to account for the largest chunk of such workers, followed by China.

According to the CRS report, `Immigration: Legislative Issues on Nonimmigrant Professional Specialty (H-1B) Workers', released in May 2006, "India was the leading country of origin for newly arriving H-1B workers, comprising 45.2 per cent of all of the new arrivals in FY 2001, but falling to 27.8 per cent in FY 2003... In terms of overall H-1B new arrivals in FY 2003, China follows with 10.6 per cent, and Canada is third (5.9 per cent). Other countries at or near 3-6 per cent are the UK, the Philippines, Korea, and Japan."

Nearly 74 per cent of the systems analysts and programmers were from India, the CRS report said quoting data captured by US Department of Homeland Security Office of Immigration Statistics (DHS Immigration Statistics).

Fewer in IT

The report also found that only 27.6 per cent of H-1B new arrivals (those who came under the numerical cap) were employed in computer-related fields in the financial year 2003, against 55.3 per cent in the financial year 2001. Architects, engineers and surveyors followed with 12 per cent of the newly approved H-1B petitions in the financial year 2003. Administrative specialisations (13.3 per cent), educators (14.4 per cent), and those working in medicine and health (8.6 per cent), and life sciences (4.6 per cent) rounded out the occupations with notable numbers of H-1B non-immigrants.

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