By Miriam Jordan
U.S. employers are expected to apply in the coming days 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.
Companies each year can sponsor a total of 65,000 foreigners
with at least a bachelor's degree for a so-called H-1B visa. The
program allocates an additional 20,000 visas each year to foreign
nationals with advanced degrees from U.S. universities.
Government and company officials expect employers within days to
exhaust the quota for this year's season, which opened Wednesday
for jobs starting in October or later. If that occurs, the U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency that runs
the program, will randomly select applications by lottery.
"USCIS will reject all unselected petitions that are subject to
the cap as well as any petitions received after the cap has
closed," the agency said in a statement.
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, 85,000 out of the 172,500 H-1B applications were
selected in the lottery. At least one third of applications not
chosen are likely to reapply this year, 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 attorneys and a
cost of several thousand dollars per petition. The visas are
initially approved for three years and can be extended for a total
of six. Additional extensions are possible if, for example, a year
has passed since a company sponsored an employee for U.S. legal
permanent residency. The visas are also sought for noncomputer
fields, such as architecture
Critics of the program say it displaces U.S. workers by enabling
companies to hire foreigners who are paid lower wages. They also
say H-1Bs are issued to companies, particularly from India, which
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
applicants.
Write to Miriam Jordan at miriam.jordan@wsj.com
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