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While you sweat over how to get that crucial work visa for your foreign job candidate, politicians are wrangling over the future of the Immigration &
Naturalization Service's H-1B visa program. This work permit lets employers bring in college graduates from abroad for up to six years, and convert that
visa to a green card (permanent residence status) later on. Barring some legislative action, the INS's cap on H-1B visas is scheduled to decline to about
half of its present level of 115,000 over the next two years.
Legislators from both parties have introduced bills that would expand those caps or create new visas to help ease the shortage of skilled
professionals, particularly in high-tech fields. One proposal is to create the "T Visa," which would allow foreign nationals completing post-secondary
degrees in math, science, engineering, or computer science to remain in the U.S. for five years to work in those fields.
Two bills have the most momentum, according to Matthew Tallmer, public affairs manager for the American Immigration Lawyers Assn. The American
Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act of 2000 is expected to hit the Senate floor any day and is likely to pass. He also expects Bill 3983 to
pass soon as well. "It has bipartisan support from major players," says Tallmer. If both bills pass their respective houses, a compromise measure is
likely.
Here's a review of the proposed immigration legislation before Congress.
S.2045:
American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act of 2000. Introduced on Feb. 9 by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), it would raise
the cap by 80,000 this year, 87,500 next year, and 130,000 in 2002. It would also exempt any foreign nationals employed by institutions of higher
education or nonprofit and governmental research organizations from the cap, as well as foreign graduates of U.S. colleges and universities with advanced
degrees.
H.R. 3983:
HI-TECH Act (Helping to Improve Technology Education & Achievement Act of 2000). Introduced by Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Dave
Dreier (R-Calif.) in March, this would raise the H-1B cap to 200,000 visas through fiscal year 2003. Of those 200,000 visas, 10,000 would be earmarked
for universities, and 60,000 for people holding master's degrees. It increases the H-1B filing fee to $1,000.
H.R. 4200:
Introduced by Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Tex.) in early April, this bill would raise the H-1B cap to 225,000, where it
would stay unless the unemployment rate rises. The bill would also raise the H-1B filing fee from its current $650 to between $1,000 and $3,000,
depending on company size.
H.R. 3814:
Introduced in March by Representative Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), it would add 45,000 H-1B visas. But to snag a visa, employers would have
to demonstrate that they had a net increase in the number of total U.S. employees over the past year and an increase in total wages paid to those
employees. This bill would also shift the verification of a foreign employee's education credentials to the State Dept. And most crippling for small
businesses and startup, it would deny H-1B visas to companies with $5 million or less in assets.
S. 1804:
H-1B Bill. Introduced by Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), this bill would suspend the H-1B cap for the next six fiscal years and would
provide priority processing for graduates of U.S. colleges with advanced degrees in technology.
S. 1440:
H-1B Bill. Introduced by Senator Phil Gramm (R-Tex.), this bill would increase the H-1B cap to 200,000 for the next two fiscal years
and would exempt advanced-degree professionals earning $60,000 or more and employees of higher educational institutions from the cap. (This one is
probably dead, according to the AILA.)
S. 1645:
High-Tech Bill. Introduced by Senator Chuck Robb (D-Va.) last summer, this bill would create a new T-visa category for the next five
years for advanced degree graduates of U.S. colleges and universities in high-tech fields. (This one is also probably dead, according to the AILA.)
H.R. 2687:
BRAIN Bill. Introduced by Representative Lofgren (D-Calif.) last August, the so-called BRAIN bill also would create a new T-visa for
the next five years for graduates of U.S. colleges and universities in high-tech fields who earn $60,000 or more. (This bill is likely to die, now that
Lofgren has introduced H.R. 3983.)
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