The Hindu Business Line : Advanced degree H-1B visas likely to dry up soon

FIRST, the H-1B visas ran out even before the start of the US Federal Government's new fiscal, and now the clock is ticking for advanced degree H-1B visas, as well. Barely two months into the new fiscal 2006, petitions for the advance degree H-1B visa are inching closer to the 20,000-cap.

The US has approved 14,281 petitions out of the additional 20,000 H-1B visas allotted for holders of US masters or higher degrees, and 2,417 applications were pending November-end. This takes the total number to 16,698, according to the latest data of the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS).

Under current law, while the annual cap in the H-1B category is 65,000 (down from 1.95 lakh in financial year 2003), the Congress has created an exemption for 20,000 foreign nationals earning advanced degrees from US universities. H-1B visas give employers access to highly educated foreign professionals with experience in specialised areas and with at least a bachelor's degree or the equivalent. Typical H-1B professionals include computer programmers, engineers, architects, accountants and doctors.

Given the rise in demand for skilled temporary workers in the US, the current cap of 65,000 H-1B visas was reached even before the start of the fiscal year on October 1, 2005, prompting organisations such as IT Association of America (ITAA) to demand a significant increase in the number of visas for the current and future years.

Last month, the US Senate cleared a provision approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, hiking the visa limit by 30,000. Subsequently, however, the US House of Representatives passed its version of the Budget Reconciliation Bill which did not include the provisions related to the recapture of unused H-1B and immigrant visa numbers from previous years as passed by the Senate, and instead imposed a $1,500 fee increase on intra-company L-1 visas. Much now depends on the reconciliation between the US Senate and the House of Representatives, on the issue.

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