Perhaps nowhere does the intersection of government and IT generate more controversy than the issuance of H-1B visas. This year’s demand for the specialized work permits is proving to be as high and as controversial as it ever has been in the past.
The H-1B is a temporary worker visa that allows U.S. companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations, usually engineering, science, and computer technology. Specialty workers must hold bachelor’s degrees or their equivalents, along with any licenses required to practice in their field.
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, Congress has limited the annual number of H-1B visas to 65,000. The law also grants H-1B visas to another 20,000 foreign nationals holding a master’s or higher degree from U.S. universities.
This year, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began accepting H-1B petitions for fiscal year 2015 on April 1. By April 7, the cap for all H-1B visas had been reached. On April 10, the USCIS announced that USCIS it had received about 172,500 H-1B petitions, including petitions filed for the advanced degree exemption. At that time, the agency conducted a computer-generated random selection process, or lottery, to select enough petitions to meet the 65,000 general-category cap and the 20,000 cap under the advanced degree exemption.
Sounds fair, right? Not necessarily, say some advocates for American tech workers. It seems that a little more than half of the base 65,000 H-1B visas routinely go to the top 20 offshore outsourcing firms. The two largest H-1B users are based in India: Infosys, with 6,298 visas, and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), with 6,258 in 2013. In third place is Cognizant, which is based in New Jersey, but runs large offshore centers.
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Critics claim that these companies are using H-1B visas to fill their outsourcing contracts. Ron Hira, a public policy professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, commented that the H-1B program actually promotes the offshoring of high-wage American jobs. The tech industry has countered by claiming that there is a skills shortage in the U.S., a claim that has been disputed by some experts. A recent piece by Paul Krugman in the New York Times refers to the so-called skills gap as a zombie myth that should have been killed long ago.
So the question is, should Congress change the H-1B program to limit the number of visas given to outsourcing companies? Lobbying organizations such as Compete America say no, and, in fact, they insist that more H-1B visas should be granted. But groups representing American tech workers are making a strong case to the contrary.
Certainly, the debate in Washington over H-1B visas will continue for years to come. To get in on the discussion and make your voice heard, email your representatives in Congress. To learn more about the H-1B program, go to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website.