Washington, D.C.--March 07, 2004-- H1-B visa cap of 65,000 reached.

Only four months into the fiscal year, the H1-B visa cap of 65,000 has been reached, according to the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services. The cap had been 195,000 after legislation was passed in 2000, but returned to 65,000 on October 1, 2003, when the legislation sunsetted. The H-1B classification was designed to help U.S.-based companies and institutions fill critical vacancies in “specialty occupations.” While high-tech usage of the visa has been significantly down over the last two years, use by medical institutions, higher education, elementary and secondary education has risen. Other occupational fields that used visas included architecture, law, accounting, entertainment and recreation, religion and theology and others. At a minimum, H1-B holders have a Bachelor’s degree and the latest figures indicate that 47% of the visas issued last year went to individuals who had a Masters, PhD or professional degree. In addition, U.S. law requires that H-1B workers be paid at prevailing U.S. rates.

The NAM, for over a decade, has chaired the employer coalition that works on legal, employment based immigration, including the H1-B and L visas programs. The coalition – Compete America – was formerly known as the American Business for Legal Immigration (ABLI) coalition. The goal of the group is to keep the U.S. economy growing and jobs in America. In a workforce of 138 million people, gaining access to a modest number of highly specialized foreign talent is an important component of U.S. competitiveness.

A significant number of H-1B professionals are hired directly from U.S. universities. Approximately one-half of all post graduate U.S. degrees in mathematics, engineering and computer science are awarded to foreign students. Compete America believes that U.S. employers ought to be able to have access to these highly educated professionals and that it is counterproductive for the U.S. to educate and train foreign scientists and engineers only to send them home to compete against us.

In addition to the H1-B visa, Compete America defends the ability of companies to transfer worldwide executives, managers and those with specialized knowledge on L visas. If you are interested in participating in the Compete America coalition or have any additional questions, please contact Sandy Boyd at sboyd@nam.org.

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