Visa Demand for High-Skilled Foreigners Is Likely to Prompt Lottery

Wall Street Journal

By Miriam Jordan

April 1, 2015

Visa Demand for High-Skilled Foreigners Is Likely to Prompt Lottery 

U.S. employers are expected in the coming days to apply for far more visas than are available for foreign workers in fields such as science, engineering and computer programming, likely prompting a government lottery for the prized visas.

Each year, starting April 1, companies can sponsor 85,000 foreigners for so-called H-1B visas. The bulk, 65,000, are for people with at least a bachelor’s degree, which doesn’t have to be earned in the U.S. The remaining 20,000 are set aside for foreign nationals with advanced degrees from U.S. universities.

Employers are expected to exhaust this year’s quota within days, say government and company officials. If that occurs, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency that runs the program, will use a computer to randomly select petitions. Those chosen can begin jobs in October or later.

During the recession, thousands of H-1B spots went unfilled until later in the season. Demand for the program has surged in the past few years as companies accelerate hiring amid the economic recovery.

Last year, the government said it had surpassed the cap about a week after beginning to take applications. The government then randomly selected from 172,500 applications. At least a third of the applicants not chosen are likely to reapply this season, experts predict.

“For H-1Bs this year, it’s going to be more of the same and worse,” said Angelo Paparelli, an immigration attorney who represents large businesses that use the program. “The chances of being selected are reduced further because demand has so increased.”

Companies apply for an H-1B with a specific job candidate in mind, a process that typically involves immigration lawyers and a cost of several thousand dollars per petition. The visas initially are approved for three years and can be extended for another three. Such visa extensions don’t count toward the cap.

Further extensions are possible if, for example, a year has passed since a company filed an application to sponsor an employee for U.S. legal permanent residency. The visas also are sought for other specialized fields, such as architecture. Foreigners employed by universities and nonprofits are exempt from the cap.

Critics say the program displaces U.S. workers by enabling companies to hire foreigners who are paid lower wages. They also contend that H-1Bs are issued to companies, particularly from India, that send workers to the U.S. to acquire skills and then move them back overseas, a practice that essentially promotes outsourcing of American jobs.

Backers, especially Silicon Valley startups and tech companies, have been lobbying to expand the program, which they say is vital to filling jobs.

A proposal in 2013 to raise the H-1B cap to 110,000 from 65,000 didn’t materialize, as Congress failed to agree on an overhaul of the nation’s immigration system.

“The tech sector is once again asking Congress to raise this arbitrary and outdated cap on highly skilled individuals so that we can tap the talent we need to continue our country’s innovation and progress,” said Dean Garfield, president of the Information Technology Industry Council, an advocacy organization representing Apple Inc.,Google Inc. and Facebook Inc., among others.

With gross-domestic-product growth this year forecast to surpass last year’s 2.5%, U.S. businesses are likely to continue boosting investment and, thus, seeking skilled workers.

International students—a record 1.1 million are in the U.S.—who graduate this year, or whose postgraduation practical training visas are due to expire, also boost the numbers of H-1B applications.

For more information, go to:  www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com