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H-1B visa applications down
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services began accepting H-1B Visa petitions on the 1st of April. But as of April 8th, the agency had only received about 13,500 H-1B requests for the visas, which businesses use to bring highly-skilled foreign workers to the U.S. That's well below the 42,000 requests filed during the same period last year. For the fiscal year 2008, the quota was filled up in a week.
From the Boston Globe:
Ron Hira, a professor of public policy at Rochester Institute of Technology, said that the higher number of visa applications at this point in 2009 was probably due to "pent-up demand from the prior year.'' In 2008, the entire H-1b quota of 65,000 was reached in a week; many companies who missed out may have resubmitted their applications the following year. But after the early surge in applications in 2009, demand for H-1b visas came nearly to a halt, as recession-ravaged firms stopped hiring. The quota was finally filled in December, nine months after the visa window was opened.
Steve Henn did a story on H-1B applications for us last year, and he reported that some critics say employers take unfair advantage of the visa program. In his report, he notes that Sen. Charles Grassley calls some of the companies using the program "nothing but pimps."
The Indian economy is growing at a healthy 6.7% and is looking solid. The American economy on the other hand is sputtering. Computer Engineers get top dollar (or Rupee I should say) for their skills in India. Why then would they want to leave there and come here?
Sen. Charles Grassley is correct only to some extent.
I know many who came to the USA from Asia (which by the way is not just China but also includes India) via the H1B means, merely for a better lifestyle. These staffing agencies take advantage of not only the H1B system but also the resources who they brought. In some cases I am aware that they charged close to $3000 as a security deposit that they said would be refunded after 18 months of service. For some when the company crashed in Dec 2000, that security deposit was lost forever.
On the good side, one must note that all these staffing agencies and the resources they bring ALWAYS follow the law and PAY ALL FEES regularly. These are law abiding, educated and skilled people.
In contrast you have those that are true "pimps". They do human trafficking across the borders to the south. They encourage (poor) illiterate people to sneak in, illegally in dangerous and deplorable conditions. So what did the Bush Administration do - BAIL THEM OUT for free!
Think about it!
