Lottery to decide my life

NEW YORK: Expressing concern that the cap mandated by US Congress over work visa for fiscal 2008 has already been reached, the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) has sought increasing the cap, failing which the American industry would lose its competitiveness.

Asking the Congress to reform the system for granting H-1B visa, SIIA said the continued leadership of US technology industry is dependent on the ability of American companies to hire highly educated and skilled workers.

The announcement that the cap on H-1B visa petitions has been met on the first day of eligibility is "further evidence" that the current visa allotment system is broken, said SIIA President Ken Wach.

"If Congress does not take action to reform the system, the global competitiveness of many American companies will be threatened."

In a statement, Wach said American companies, including many SIIA members, use H-1B visas to employ foreign workers in occupations that require technical expertise in specialized fields such as computer programmers, scientists or engineers. SIIA Director of Public Policy David LeDuc said this would also mean that many 2007 foreign graduates of American Universities would have to wait for 18 months to pursue "significant employment" within the United States.

"Innovation and competition within the American technology industry is a leading driver of US economic growth," he said, adding that the demand for workers with the right technical skills and knowledge has grown at a rate greater than the US workforce can meet.

"While it is critical that we remain focused on training American workers to meet the industry needs of the 21st Century, companies must be able to meet their immediate needs by hiring the most highly skilled professionals the world has to offer," LeDuc added.

SIIA is the principal trade association for the software and digital content industry. It provides global services in government relations, business development, corporate education and intellectual property protection to more than 800 leading software and information companies.

US Citizen and Immigration Services officials announced last week that it had received enough H-1B petitions to meet the Congressional mandated cap for Fiscal 2008 and that all applications received on or after April 4 stand rejected.

The agency received a record 150,000 applications last Monday which is double the number of visas in can grant for the year beginning Oct 1, 2007. indiatimes

Wish I did too, msolga. Know someone important, I mean.

Thanks, guys. I'm waiting for that journalist friend of mine to get back with edits on that op-ed I wrote, hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to send it off somewhere.

roger wrote:

Wish I did too, msolga. Know someone important, I mean.

.. Roger, if all of us folk with no Contacts of Influence, joined forces ....? :wink:

like the meek, Olga. Remember that they will inherit the Earth!

Jeeze Nimh... why don't you just sleep with the boss's wife?

Jeeze Nimh... why don't you just sleep with the boss's wife?