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U.S. Companies Face Year-Long Bar to Needed Skilled Professionals
WASHINGTON, DC, Aug. 12, 2005 – The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) announced today that it has met the 65,000 H-1B congressionally mandated cap for the 2006 fiscal year, which means that companies that need highly educated foreign professionals with critical skills will have to wait more than a year before they can obtain this needed expertise. "This is a clear sign that the H-1B cap allotment needs to be better aligned with reality," said Deborah J. Notkin, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). While the H-1B cap has been filled prematurely before, this is the first time that it has been reached before the fiscal year in which the visas would be used has even begun. That fiscal year begins October 1. "This is bad news for U.S. companies who now will have to cancel key job creating projects or move the projects offshore to round out critical skill needs," said Notkin. "Congress greatly underestimated the need for H-1B visas when it established the cap, and the result could impact the economy in a negative way. AILA calls upon Congress to bring this quota in line with the needs of the American economy."
The H-1B nonimmigrant visa category allows U.S. employers to augment the existing labor force with highly skilled international professionals, such as research scientists, to provide expertise to American companies for temporary periods. H-1B workers are admitted to the United States for an initial period of three years, which may be extended for an additional three years.
The H-1B visa is utilized by U.S. businesses and other organizations to employ international professionals in specialty occupations that require specialized expertise. Typical H-1B occupations include scientists, architects, engineers, systems analysts, accountants, doctors, actuaries, and teachers.
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