USCIS still Accepting H-1B Petitions for 2010

Date: Thursday, April 16, 2009 2:08 AM

<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 2005 -- 4/15/2009 >>>>>

Alarmists have been arguing that the yearly cap on H-1B visas is so low that
the 65,000 limit would probably be met within hours of the April 1st
acceptance day of petitions. So far the mad stampede for visas that they
predicted hasn't materialized. At the time of this writing the USCIS is still
accepting H-1B petitions for fiscal year 2010. As reported last week by the
USCIS only 42,000 petitions had been received in addition to 20,000 to meet
the special exemption for advanced degree holders.

The USCIS hasn't released additional information, which means they still
haven't received 65,000 petitions.

Proponents of expanding H-1B have argued that we need to raise the cap because
the visas run out so fast. Check out this quote from Bill Gates during his
U.S. Senate testimony in 2007:

I see the negative effects of these policies every day at Microsoft.
In my written testimony, I discuss some of the shortfalls of the
current system. For 2007, the supply of H1-B visas ran out four
months before the fiscal year even began. For 2008, they will run
out even earlier, well before degreed candidates graduate. So, for
the first time ever, we will not be able to seek H-1Bs for this
year's graduating students.
Bill Gates: U.S. Senate Committee Hearing on Strengthening American
Competitiveness, March 7, 2007

Actually, Bill Gates was exaggerating big time about 2007 -- it took about two
months for the H-1B petitions to run out after April Fool's day. The important
point is that Gates was arguing that the cap being reached so quickly is
evidence that the cap has to be raised. Well, "what's good for the goose is
good for the gander"! Simply put, if the cap hasn't been reached is evidence
that the cap should be lowered, not raised. Of course we won't hear that
argument anytime soon -- especially from Bill Gates or other H-1B pushers like
Stuart Anderson.

I make the point to CIO magazine that the reason the demand for H-1B is down
is that the demand for all workers is slumping. There are alarmists that are
making false assumptions that a public backlash is responsible to the weak
demand for H-1Bs but that makes no sense since there is so little backlash.

Any shortage in H-1B jobs this year may mirror the overall slowdown
in hiring that's hitting American and foreign workers. "I don't
doubt that companies are cutting back on H-1B applications but it
certainly isn't because of fears of a backlash," says Rob Sanchez,
senior writing fellow for the anti-immigration group Californians
for Population Stabilization and publisher of the e-mailed Job
Destruction Newsletter. "If they are pulling back it's because
they aren't hiring. And if they aren't hiring H-1Bs they aren't
hiring anybody else either."

I object to the author's characterization of CAPS as anti-immigrant. My reason
can be read in the comments online. That web page allows open comments with no
registration. So far they have received very few, which is kind of odd. Am I
really that boring???

It seems that very few U.S. publications are willing to admit that low H-1B
demand is due to slow hiring and a weak economy, so we have to rely on India's
press for a more intelligent opinion (could it be that we have outsourced all
of our economic analysis to India?):

In a clear manifestation of the current financial turmoil in the US,
it has received only 42,000 H-1B visa applications so far against
the stipulated quota of 65,000 for the fiscal 2010,

Irrelevant comment: I went to the Tax Tea Party in Phoenix today. Wow, what an
event! The crowds were very large and passionate. If I was going to
characterize it I would say it was anti-tax, anti-Obama, anti-amnesty, anti-
Congress (especially Democrats), anti-stimulus bill, and most important anti-
deficit spending. Lots of ill will was shown towards Janet Napolitano, John
McCain, and our new governor Jan Brewer. Gov. Brewer probably doesn't deserve
as much scorn as she got, but she is suggesting tax increases and that makes
her a target. Former Representative J.D.
Hayworth (and now KFYI talk host) and Russell Pearce were probably the heroes
of the evening, but there were many rousing speeches that got the crowd going.

The signs were awesome. My personal favorite sign can be seen on slide show
#44 and #45. For all sorts of coverage of the event go the KFYI radio at:

http://kfyi.com/cc-common/political/?_show

REFERENCES:

http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/exec/billg/speeches/2007/03-07Senate.mspx

Bill Gates: U.S. Senate Committee Hearing on Strengthening American
Competitiveness, transcript

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=f3da3c1090b80210VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD&vgnextchannel=1
958b0aaa86fa010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD
USCIS Updates Count of FY2010 H-1B Petition Filings

http://www.cio.com/article/488840/Halts_in_H_B_Visa_Hiring_
Halts in H-1B Visa Hiring?

http://www.indiajournal.com/pages/event.php?id=6627
US Sees Only 42,000 H-1B Visa Applications in First Week

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http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=cf6c9a6461680210VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD&vgnextchannel=6
8439c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

USCIS Continues to Accept FY 2010 H-1B Petitions

WASHINGTON -- April 8, 2009, USCIS announced it continues to accept H-1B
nonimmigrant visa petitions subject to the fiscal year 2010 (FY 2010) cap.
USCIS will continue to monitor the number of H-1B petitions received for both
the 65,000 regular cap and the 20,000 U.S. master s degree or higher
educational exemption cap.

Should USCIS receive the necessary number of petitions to meet the respective
caps, it will issue an update to advise the public that, as of a certain date
(the "final receipt date"), the respective FY 2010 H-1B caps have been met.
The final receipt date will be based on the date USCIS physically receives the
petition, not the date that the petition is postmarked. The date or dates
USCIS informs the public that the respective caps have been reached may differ
from the actual final receipt date.

To ensure a fair system, USCIS may randomly select the number of petitions
required to reach the numerical limit from the petitions received as of the
final receipt date. USCIS will reject cap subject petitions that are not
selected, as well as those received after the final receipt date.

Petitions filed on behalf of current H-1B workers, who have been counted
previously against the cap, will not count toward the congressionally mandated
FY 2010 H-1B cap.

Therefore, USCIS will continue to process petitions filed to:

Extend the amount of time a current H-1B worker may remain in the United
States.
Change the terms of employment for current H-1B workers.
Allow current H-1B workers to change employers.
Allow current H-1B workers to work concurrently in a second H-1B position.
H-1B in General - U.S. businesses use the H-1B program to employ foreign
workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical
expertise in fields, such as scientists, engineers, or computer programmers.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=f3da3c1090b80210VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD&vgnextchannel=1
958b0aaa86fa010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

USCIS Updates Count of FY2010 H-1B Petition Filings

WASHINGTON April 9, 2009 -- USCIS announced an updated number of filings for
H-1B petitions for the fiscal year 2010 program.

USCIS has received approximately 42,000 H-1B petitions counting toward the
Congressionally-mandated 65,000 cap. The agency continues to accept petitions
subject to the general cap.

Additionally, the agency has received approximately 20,000 petitions for
aliens with advanced degrees; however, we continue to accept advanced degree
petitions since experience has shown that not all petitions received are
approvable. Congress mandated that the first 20,000 of these types of
petitions are exempt from any fiscal year cap on available H-1B visas.

For cases filed for premium processing during the initial five-day filing
window, the 15-day premium processing period began April 7. For cases filed
for premium processing after the filing window, the premium processing period
begins on the date USCIS takes physical possession of the petition.

USCIS will provide regular updates as the processing of FY2010 H-1B petitions
continue.

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http://www.cio.com/article/488840/Halts_in_H_B_Visa_Hiring_

Halts in H-1B Visa Hiring?
-- Stephanie Overby, CIO

April 09, 2009

A recent article in the Washington Post alleges that some American companies
may be reducing their H-1B visa hiring in response to a growing backlash
against the program that allows them to hire foreign professionals in the U.S.
The article states that "Analysts say it is part of a wave of mounting anger
in the United States over work visas, especially at a time when more than half
a million Americans are being laid off every month."

But it's unlikely that any company has discontinued hiring new H-1B visa
recipients solely as a public relations move, says Eugene Kublanov, CEO of
offshore outsourcing consultancy neoIT. The U.S. companies that have
traditionally employed the most H-1B professionals -- Microsoft, Accenture,
and Cisco topped the list last year -- may be making an extra effort to keep a
lid on their work visa usage, but they were never likely to be trumpeting such
news in the first place.

Any shortage in H-1B jobs this year may mirror the overall slowdown in hiring
that's hitting American and foreign workers. "I don't doubt that companies are
cutting back on H-1B applications but it certainly isn't because of fears of a
backlash," says Rob Sanchez, senior writing fellow for the anti-immigration
group Californians for Population Stabilization and publisher of the e-mailed
Job Destruction Newsletter. "If they are pulling back it's because they aren't
hiring. And if they aren't hiring H-1Bs they aren't hiring anybody else
either."

As of April 8, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said that
it had received less than half the number of petitions to reach the 65,000 cap
during the initial filing period for H-1B applications. The USCIS also
indicated that it received close to the number needed to fill the 20,000
exemption for those who have earned a U.S. master's degree or higher.

While the number of initial applications may diminish due to the economy,
according to a March 2009 report by the non-profit, non-partisan research
group National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), the demand built up by
the inability of employers to hire professionals on new H-1B visas for over
the past year and the low quota on H-1Bs relative to the size of the U.S.
labor force will contribute to employers likely reaching the annual cap for
next year. Last year, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services received
150,000 H-1B visa applications in two days.

The biggest users of H-1B visas in 2008 were Infosys Technologies, Wipro,
Satyam Computer Services, and Tata Computer Services, although NFAP found that
the 12,180 new H-1B visa holders hired by all Indian companies in 2008
represented just 11.9 percent of the 2008 new H-1B petitions issued.

A few U.S. financial services companies may have to rethink their H-1B hiring
policies. President Barack Obama's stimulus package requires that U.S.
companies that receive funds from the Troubled Assets Relief Program
(TARP) refrain from hiring H-1B visa holders for two years if they have laid
off American workers in the previous six months. But those companies have used
just a fraction of the overall H-1B visas available in recent years. JP Morgan
Chase hired 236 new H-1B visa holders in 2007, Goldman Sachs employed 227, and
Citigroup used 185.

Any suspended hiring of foreign professionals by banks and investment houses
should have little effect on overall H-1B usage. But for the financial
services firms themselves, it will mean increased costs. "Indian and other
offshore and nearshore vendors are already staffing up in the U.S. to be able
to service their clients who are operating under new restrictions," says
neoIT's Kublanov. "But these services will be at a much different price point
than leveraging talent in Bangalore, Budapest or Buenos Aires."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://www.indiajournal.com/pages/event.php?id=6627

US Sees Only 42,000 H-1B Visa Applications in First Week Date
Submitted: Wed Apr 15, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In a clear manifestation of the current financial turmoil

in the US, it has received only 42,000 H-1B visa applications so far against
the stipulated quota of 65,000 for the fiscal 2010, even as a debate on
raising cap on this highly skilled workers visa is going on.

Despite opening the program for applicants a week ago on April 1, the agency
has only got 42,000 applications, whereas last year, the quota was filled in
less than two days.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services in a statement on April 9 said it
has received "approximately 42,000 H-1B petitions counting toward the
Congressionally-mandated 65,000 cap".

The agency would continue to accept petitions subject to the general cap.

Usually, Indians are among the major recipients of H-1B visas -- meant for
highly skilled workers.

USCIS noted that it has received about 20,000 petitions for aliens with
advanced degrees.

"...we continue to accept advanced degree petitions since experience has shown
that not all petitions received are approvable," the statement said.

Congress mandated that the first 20,000 of these types of petitions are exempt
from any fiscal year cap on available H-1B visas.

The relatively cold response has been mainly due to the current economic
turmoil and the general anti H-1B ambience in the US.

The Obama administration has barred companies receiving taxpayers money from
recruiting H-1B workers.

USCIS said for cases filed for premium processing during the initial five-day
filing window, the 15-day premium processing period began April 7.

For cases filed for premium processing after the filing window, the premium
processing period begins on the date USCIS takes physical possession of the
petition, the statement added.

Earlier this week, US think-tank The Heritage Foundation in a report called
for increasing the H-1B cap back to 1,95,000 visas per year -- the maximum
allowed as recently as 2001.

"Raising the cap for H-1B visas will not steal American jobs but will help
promote economic growth and generate much needed tax revenue," the report
said.

According to official data, four Indian firms alone accounted for over 10,000
H-1B visas. Indian IT giant Infosys tops the list of companies which were
issued H-1B visas, receiving as many as 4,559 visas.

Infosys was followed by Wipro Limited (2,678), crisis-ridden Satyam Computer
Services (1,917) and Tata Consultancy Services (1,539).

(PTI)

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