April 05, 2007

H1B visa cap (for technology professionals) reached on first day

This item from USCIS is of interest to any technology company seeking to sponsor foreign employees on the very popular (and controvercial) H1B visa. From USCIS... "U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it has received enough H-1B petitions to meet the congressionally mandated cap for fiscal year 2008 (FY 2008). USCIS will use a random selection process (described below) for all cap-subject filings received on April 2, 2007 and April 3, 2007. USCIS will reject and return along with filing fee(s) all petitions received on those days that are not randomly selected." Note: the H1B visa is commonly used for technology companies in order to sponsor skilled labor. The job must be fore a specialty occupation and the peritioner must hold a degree. At the root of the problem for many is the fact that the cap on these visas is 65,000. Perhaps something that should be looked at is that 70% of the applications and visas issued go to workers from one country (India) and even more consufing is a new visa called L-3 that provides for a whopping 20,000 visas that are issued only to professionals from Australia! WOW - see the official announcment at http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/H1BFY08Cap040307.pdf

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

It seems that calls for increases in the H1B limit are predicated on a "shortage" of skilled US workers.

I just (today) read an article on the CIO Insight site reporting on a study showing that the US produces plenty of Technical folks (granted the article discusses offshoring, but that's just the other side of the H1B coin).

The H1B program has become about keeping costs for industry down at the expense of US workers rather than supplementing the US workforce. IMHO of course.

Anonymous said...

Look at any graduate schools in science to see how many students are from
abroad. My husband and I both got PhDs from prestigious school. I think we deserve better treatment than this lottory style visa quota. By the way, my husband got a job which will pay very well if he succeed to obtain H1B. So don't think all the companies are after cheap labor!

gletham Communications said...

well, fundamentally, the whole system and the way H1B visas are handed out and managed is flawed. Of particular concern I think is the number of H1B visa hodlers that get their visa, some to the US only to jump to another employer within a couple of months.. this is crazy! If this is ok do happen then switching from a TN to H1B should be a no-brainer and not fall under the H1B cap either. I personally know someone that came here last Oct and after only 2 months found a new job! So why was a visa even issued for someone to come here and work for only 2 months. Switching jobs and simply jumping to a new H1B with a new employer is crazy and these should fall under the cap like any other H1B application. I also know of a realtor who was here on an H1B.. imagine that! How crazy.. I guess there's a shortage of professionals to sell real estate! HiB apps until now were only scrutinized for correctness and not for accuracy and truthfulness. The applications and applicants need to be looked at more closely... the fact that more than 70% of H1B going to those from India should also be looked at and perhaps a more equitable sharing among various nations considered... finally, where the hell does the need for 20,000 L visas for Aussies come from??

Anonymous said...

I am not from India, I am not in the IT field, the company that applied for me didn't apply for anybody else. Shouldn't they consider this? I mean, when a company applies for 2,000 people it's clear that they couldn't really check those people. It's like ok, we have 2,0000, if we are lucky 100 of them are going to be good. Imagine it's like they would hire all the graduate students from my country! How do to meet the "professional" criteria? Well, maybe it's just me talking nonsense, I am pretty upset:)

Anonymous said...

It is a nightmare. I got PhD in US and spent 3 years as postdoc. And found an ideal job from high tech company but, it seems that it is very unlikely to get h1b since my application arrived after 3 days from opening date. So USA wants to expel US PhDs after long training to other countries under current quota system.. If I knew this would happen in advance, I wouldn't have come to USA to study first of all.

gletham Communications said...

Actually, if you have a post-grad degree from a US university then there are an additional 20,000 H1Bs available for this group of individuals... you might wish to get that application in ASAP

Shark Girl said...

I'm tired of hearing all the lies about H1B visas being good for American economy.

At Robins Air Force Base, Intergraph Corporation was hired to represent the United States in evaluating my company plans, and they were hired to negotiate the contract with me on behalf of the Air Force.

Intergraph is pro-H1B. They breached my nondisclosure then teamed with a company who's owners are from India. The Indians (having H1B case numbers) threatened me telling me if I didn't give up my company plans, they would team with Intergraph.

They offered me bribes. I have been threatened. My company was shut down. Intergraph was awarded contracts by Robins Air Force Base through illegal means.

Three of the defendants in my lawsuits (including Intergraph) are in the H1B visa database system.

H1B is not good for the economy. It's designed to disrupt Americans and make them lose their jobs.

In addition to losing my job, I also lost my home, land and company.

Here's where I'm blogging it, if the owner of this blog will allow my comment.

http://www.facingthesharks.com

gletham Communications said...

well,
I sympathize with you but to generalize and say H1B is taking away jobs is ludicrous.. I was on an H1B (can't get one now because they all go to people from India!!) and I create jobs here. There is a shortage of skilled tech workers in certain technologies and this is a fact. You need to remember that many of the students getting degrees in technology are foreigners, this is whay there is a shortage of skilled US-born workers. The H1B process needs to be revamped and looked at but to say it takes jobs away is crazy. If I can't get a visa enabling me to stay in the US then jobs and US revenues will be lost and will go back to Canada.. plain and simple.