[IP] "U.S. May Ease Entry for High-Tech Workers"
* "U.S. May Ease Entry for High-Tech Workers"
* Wall Street Journal (10/27/03) P. A2; Schroeder, Michael
* Spurred by worries among American multinationals and high-tech firms
that the current H-1B visa cap of 65,000 will prevent thousands of skilled
foreign professionals from entering the country in 2004, Senate Judiciary
Committee Chairman Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) is pushing for expanded
exemptions, which would clear the way for congressional consideration of
proposed visa amendments. A representative of Hatch's noted that any
initiative put forward would boast additional safeguards for domestic
workers, including the reinstatement of a $1,000 fee for every visa that
would be devoted to retraining American workers. Intel is lobbying for a
visa cap exemption for foreign students with graduate technical degrees:
Intel Chairman Andy Grove recently noted that 50 percent of students in
U.S.-based technical graduate programs are foreign-born, and argued that
the most highly skilled students should be allowed to work in the United
States so that the country can sustain its economic competitiveness. The
current rules only allow exemptions for H-1B holders who work at
universities or nonprofit research and development organizations. American
Immigration Lawyers president-elect Paul Zulkie reports that the 2004 H-1B
cap is actually closer to 35,000, and estimates that it will probably be
reached by March. His organization is lobbying for the cap to be boosted to
115,000. Meanwhile, India's National Association of Software and Service
Companies thinks the cap should be raised to between 120,000 and 130,000.
Proponents of H-1B exemption programs will have to overcome widespread
feelings that the visa program itself is a big contributor to the U.S.
workforce's current troubles--anti-H-1B advocates claim, for instance, that
many American companies are replacing domestic workers with foreigners
because they are willing to work for less.
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