"U.S. May Ease Entry for High-Tech Workers"

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

   * "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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