October 04, 2004

Immigration officials have a message for employers hoping to hire foreign workers through the H1-B visa program for the fiscal year that began Friday: It's too late.

The visas are granted to foreigners in specialty professions such as architecture, engineering, medicine and computer programming. H1-B visas are good for up to six years.

Congress set a cap of 65,000 such visas per fiscal year. By the end of the day Friday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had reached the limit.

Under the H1-B program, U.S. employers must pay foreign workers the prevailing wage and show that qualified U.S. workers are not rejected. The foreign worker must have a bachelor's degree or equivalent.

Employers hope to get relief from a proposal by U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, and Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.

They propose that foreign students graduating from master's or doctoral programs at U.S. universities not be counted against the H1-B limit. Such students often are recruited by U.S. businesses and could end up working for global competitors when H1-B visas are unavailable.

It's unclear whether Congress will take up the matter before adjourning. Congress has been reluctant to raise the cap because of sensitivity over exporting U.S. jobs overseas.

Unions and other critics say the program allows businesses to fill jobs with cheaper foreign labor, but employers say they can't find enough Americans with the necessary math, science and engineering skills.

Source : http://www.mysanantonio.com/