Senate panel increases H-1B visa limit

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has approved an extra 30,000 foreign worker visas for 2006 under a visa program popular with many technology companies, but the increase was halved from an earlier committee proposal.

The committee on Thursday approved legislation that would expand the cap on H-1B skilled-worker visas from 65,000 to 95,000 in the U.S. government's fiscal year 2006. The legislation, supported by several IT vendors, expands the H-1B cap by "recapturing" unused visas from past years going back to the early 1990s.

The extra visas would be available in years when the H-1B cap has been reached, as it has for fiscal year 2006.

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The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has approved an extra 30,000 foreign worker visas for 2006 under a visa program popular with many technology companies, but the increase was halved from an earlier committee proposal.

The committee on Thursday approved legislation that would expand the cap on H-1B skilled-worker visas from 65,000 to 95,000 in the U.S. government's fiscal year 2006. The legislation, supported by several IT vendors, expands the H-1B cap by "recapturing" unused visas from past years going back to the early 1990s.

The extra visas would be available in years when the H-1B cap has been reached, as it has for fiscal year 2006.

A Judiciary Committee draft proposal circulated in the past week would have allowed up to 60,000 more H-1B visas a year, but Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) pushed for a smaller increase. Feinstein was concerned about the effect on U.S. worker jobs, and 27% of H1-B visas fill computer-related jobs, she said.

"What I don't want to see is Americans lose jobs to foreign workers or Americans not have opportunity for these jobs," Feinstein said in a statement. "I think there needs to be further study of whether there is in fact a shortage of American workers to fill these jobs."

The 65,000 cap for H-1B visa applications in the U.S. government's fiscal year 2006 was reached about two months before the new fiscal year began on Oct. 1. Congress allowed 195,000 H-1B visas in the government's fiscal year 2003, but then let the cap fall back to its pre-dot-com boom level of 65,000.

The Judiciary Committee legislation, which would have to be approved by the full Senate as well as the House of Representatives, also includes a $500 increase in the H-1B application cost. The current cost is $3,185.

Feinstein's amendment also increased the application fees for L-1 visas, which U.S. companies use to hire foreign workers for management and executive positions. The amendment increases the L-1 visa fee $750 to $1,435.

Technology trade groups, including the Information Technology Association of America and the Information Technology Industry Council, had pushed for more H-1B visas, saying U.S. companies need to be able to recruit workers from around the world to compete in a global economy. The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), which is another trade group, and Microsoft applauded the committee's support of more visas.

SIIA President Ken Wasch called the need for additional technology workers "urgent" for U.S. companies.

"Despite concerns that the number of additional H-1B visas was cut in half ... SIIA believes that the proposal represents an interim solution for immediate U.S. workforce needs while also providing necessary revenue for the federal government," Wasch said in a statement. "Both of these objectives are consistent with the goal of positioning the U.S. for continued global leadership in innovative technology."

Supporters of more H-1B visas also point to its benefit to U.S. workers, with $1,500 of each visa application fee going toward U.S. worker training programs. The committee's decision "will give U.S. business more ability to compete, succeed, remain competitive and provide new revenue for training U.S. workers and for deficit reduction," said Jack Krumholtz , Microsoft's managing director for federal government affairs, in a statement.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.