Should the US Raise H-1B Visa Caps? The Debate Rages On
16/05/2008 by Tamar Blieden
Serious number limitations on the US H-1B visa has caused worldwide complaints, however abuse of the system and the idea of those on the visa not being the best and the brightest has caused even more controversy of late.
There are various reasons why organisations want the H-1B quota to grow significantly in the next year. Firstly companies, especially technical and IT based ones have massive labour shortages and they need these skills. Secondly it is predicted that the amount of tax revenue that the US government can attain can reach as much as $69 billion if the proposed extra H-1B visas allow skilled foreigners to work in the country. But these people may not be the best minds the world can offer.
Opponents to H-1B visas believe that employers often lodge these visas for people as they can pay foreigners less. Norman Matloff, a professor at the University of California, is an avid anti-H-1B advocate and states that, "Most foreign tech workers, particularly from Asia, are in fact of only average talent."
Matloff supports this through a recent study published by the Centre of Immigration Studies. He showed that salaries for foreigners are often not on par with average wages; they are in fact often less. He believes that if they were so much in need and so highly skilled surely then these H-1B foreigners could command higher salaries. The fact that computer consultancy iGate Mastech were fined, $45 000 (£ for showing preference to H-1Bs in their job advertising highlights how this system is being abused.
Despite this many people are still calling for the cap of just 65 000 and an additional 20 000 for foreigners with US degrees to be raised to as much as 196 000. This comes after the amount of H-1B visa was met in just a few days, in fact 163 000 petitions were received in just five days.
"People may criticise the politics around H-1Bs, but still it is probably the most popular choice for skilled people looking to migrate to the US," says Christian Clarke of www.globalvisas.com, an international visa and immigration service provider.
He also emphasises that getting permanent residence or a green card is almost as difficult as getting H-1B visas. A massive corporation like Microsoft have voiced concern over this as they wait in line for about 4000 employees to get residency.
But efforts to increase the cap have been dealt a huge blow recently because of the Hispanic Caucus' "veto power" over immigration related bills. The Hispanic Caucus want more lenient immigration policies for illegal immigrants and are therefore using this veto as a way to bargain to get what they want. However this is obviously not the only obstacle to H-1B growth.
The H-1B visa allows foreigners to enter the United States on a temporary basis of initially three years, which may be extended to a total of six. The typical H-1B occupations include architects, accountants, computer programmers and doctors.
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