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Topics:
A Look At The Proposed T Visa For High Tech Workers
An Examination of H-1B Bill Proposals
    Lofgren/Dreier Bill
    Smith Bill
    Hatch/Abraham Bill
VisaNow Voices An Opinion   

Date: 5/12/00 5:14:57 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: info@visanow.com (Info@VisaNow.com)
Reply-to: infor@visanow.com
To: turec@visanow.com


May 12, 2000 www.visanow.com
Volume 2, Issue 2
THE VISANOW VOICE
The Newsletter of VISANOW.com

Contents:
* A Look At The Proposed T Visa For High Tech Workers
* An Examination of H-1B Bill Proposals



A Look At The Proposed T Visa For High Tech Workers

The H-1B cap, designed to provide enough temporary visas to last an entire
fiscal year, is being met in just a few months. As Americans become aware
of the necessary components of the new economy, the high-tech community is
searching internationally for the skills to maintain and advance today.
Change is upon us, and Congress is reacting.

HITEC Proposal
In early February this year, nineteen Senators co-sponsored legislation that
would increase the number of H-1B visas from 115,000 to 195,000 for the next
three years. However, Senator Charles Robb (D-VA) has gone one step further
to help the technology industry by introducing the "HITEC Act", Helping
Improve Technology Education and Competitiveness Act, which would establish
the new T visa. The HITEC Act will create a fund to increase the
availability of necessary high tech skills in schools; thus producing
skilled American workers for the future. In the interim, the new T visa will
allow American companies to hire more foreign technology workers in order to
compete in the high-tech industry worldwide.

The proposed T visa, a separate category for skilled high tech workers,
would create a new non-immigrant category, exclusively for foreign
nationals. If the bill passes, employers will be able to apply for a T visa
petition, instead of an H-1B visa, for employees who have a Master's degree
or higher. Unlike the H-1B visa, which requires a Bachelor's degree as a
minimum, the new category allows eligibility only to those who have
completed a post-secondary degree for math, science, engineering or computer
science. The T visa would allow individuals to stay in the U.S. for up to
five years, and is extendable for another five years. Under the H-1B visa
category, individuals are allowed a three-year stay in the U.S., with a
three year extension. The bill requires a $1000 fee for each new T visa
petition and $500 for each petition to extend the visa or change employers.
The fees would be used to finance a High Tech Education Fund, which would
foster education for American students in math and science. The long-term
goal of the bill is to educate American students, but the need to fill the
increasing openings in high tech jobs is urgent. The T visa responds to
this urgent need by allowing foreign workers in the country, while the
American educational process prepares U.S. students for upper level high
tech positions.

The HITEC Act requires employers and potential foreign employees to meet
certain salary and educational requirements. The employee would be required
to hold a Master's or doctoral degree from a U.S. university in computer
science, engineering, science, or mathematics.

Experts Argue...
Industry experts argue, however, that the new T visa disregards an inherent
problem. A report by the Office of Technology Policy within the Department
of Commerce showed that, currently, 32% of high tech workers do not have
college degrees or received their degrees in a subject other than those
provided for in the T visa legislation. Further, according to the U.S.
Department of Labor, virtually all high tech positions require a Bachelor's
degree level of education, though not a Master's. Some are concerned that
this issue will make the T visa of little help to the ongoing staffing
shortages faced by the IT industry. Employers filling these positions may
still have to continue to rely on the H-1B category and deal with its cap.

The immediate shift in attention to IT's labor force is essential to
American economic growth as intellectual talent becomes the essential
commodity of the new economy. The high tech industry will continue to
expand and produce as long as its growth is facilitated by the availability
of skilled workers. The T visa, under the HITEC Act, gives employers and
employees an alternative to an ongoing dilemma created by the H-1B cap.
Enhancing U.S. companies' ability to tap international talent when necessary
is a sensible answer to stemming the current shortage.



An Examination Of H-1B Bill Proposals

As long as America advances technologically, and H-1B visas are limited to
levels that fall below the country's needs, a shortage of IT professionals
will continue to be a major problem for this country. According to
Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), a trade association
representing the U.S. IT industry, employers will create a demand in this
country for roughly 1.6 million IT workers this year, but of them, 843,328
positions will likely go unfilled. There are not enough trained Americans
to fill the number of positions available today to sustain for tomorrow.
Recently, Congress proposed several bills in order to find a solution to the
excess unoccupied positions in the technological industry.

Lofgren/Dreier Bill
Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Representative David Dreier (R-CA)
have presented a bill that would increase the available number of H-1B visas
from 115,000 to 200,000 for the next three fiscal years. With unanimous
support from the business community, the High Tech Act would set aside
10,000 of the 200,000 visas for employees of higher educational institutions
and government and non-profit research institutions, and 60,000 visas to
individuals with a Master's degree or higher. Supporters believe the bill
would be of benefit, as the supply of Americans educated in the fields of
math, science, engineering and computer science do not meet the demand of
our expanding high tech industry.

By increasing the H-1B fee from $500 to $1000, the extra money from the High
Tech Act would fund a program that educates and trains American students in
these areas. The bill focuses on education for the future and its effect on
our country in the long term.

Smith Bill
The Technology Worker Temporary Relief Act, proposed by Representative Lamar
Smith (R-TX), has been a recent topic of debate. It would eliminate the
H-1B cap through FY2002. Some critics label this bill "The Restrictionist
Bill" since it would impose many requirements on employers, including:

* attest that they have hired more U.S. workers,
* have a higher total average payroll than in the previous year,
* eliminate part-time H-1Bs,
* require employers to have gross assets of at least $250,000

Smith states, "Let the market determine how many foreign skilled workers we
need rather than have Congress set limits based on an arbitrary number."
The regulations hidden in the language deny smaller companies access to H-1B
workers. For example, requiring employers to increase the payroll is
difficult for a small business because it means a higher salary for an
employee in a company that does not have the competitive resources a large
company is equipped with. The bill also requires the Department of Labor to
post details about each H-1B worker on the Internet for public review.

Hatch/Abraham Bill
Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Spencer Abraham (R-MI) also suggest a
solution to the nationwide shortage of skilled high tech workers. This bill
proposes an increase, rather than a complete lift, in the H-1B cap to
195,000 for the current and next two fiscal years, and would exempt from the
cap employees of higher educational institutions and research institutions,
as well as foreign students graduating from U.S. schools with a Master's
degree or PhD. The bill would particularly help the professional and
high-tech sectors of the U.S. economy. "This legislation provides a short
term solution to the nation's shortage of skilled professional workers. We
have often said that the H-1B cap is a cap on our economy. The bill
acknowledges that and should help the economy to continue to grow,"
commented Jeanne Butterfield, Executive Director of American Immigration
Lawyers Association. Furthermore, the Senators want to raise an additional
$150 million for scholarships and training of American workers for these
jobs through raising the available number of visas and the fees charged for
them. A total of $375 million for education and training are the projected
earnings under this program over 3 fiscal years.

VisaNow Voices An Opinion
The general feeling at VisaNow.com is that no change to the H-1B cap will
occur for fiscal year 2000. We continue to support the Hatch/Abraham bill
raising the cap to 195,000 visas issued per year. This bill increases the
cap without attaching unnecessary restrictions that would hinder companies'
competitiveness.

It is a time to look at the short term and how it will effect the long term.
The consistent theme occurring in each bill seems to be the recognition of a
skilled staffing shortage. If we meet the need for skilled workers now,
American talent can flourish in the future. The current cap on skilled H-1B
workers would be a cap on our economic prosperity. Companies must be given
the opportunity to continue to hire globally so that the U.S. can remain the
technological and economic leader.

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