Wednesday, June 14, 2000 - Proposed Changes to High-Tech Visas
By The Associated Press, Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas Reps. David Dreier, R-Calif., and Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif. Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Spence Abraham, R-Mich. President ClintonH-1B visas are given to foreigners with college degrees and allow them to work up to six years in the United States.
The program is capped at 115,000 visas this year, with the number scheduled to drop to 107,500 for the year starting Oct. 1 and then to 65,000 per year after that.
Here is a look at the proposed changes to the program:
1) Remove the cap for three years.
- After the first year, companies must document that their median wages increased or they would be ineligible for more visas.
Companies also would have to document at least $250,000 in assets to show they have the means to provide jobs.
The $500 visa fee would increase by $350, with $200 going to the Immigration and Naturalization Service to better process visas and $150 for INS and the State Department to fight fraud in the program.
- The visa fee would double to provide money for education and training for U.S. workers. $20 from each fee would go to the INS to improve processing.
3) Raise the cap to 195,000 annually for three years, but exempt people who earned graduate degrees at U.S. schools or work in higher education or government research.
- The visa fee would remain $500.
4) Raise the visa cap to 200,000 annually for three years, with at least 40 percent going to people with master's degrees.
- Fees would quadruple to $2,000 for most companies and $3,000 for companies that depend on foreigners for at least 15 percent of their work forces.
Half the extra money would pay for training U.S. workers, 30 percent would pay for educating U.S. workers and 20 percent to improve INS.
The plan also would grant permanent residence for political refugees from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Haiti, and grant amnesty for illegal immigrants who have lived in the United States since 1986. The current registration deadline is 1972.
