CCIA: Skilled Workers' Visas Must Be Addressed

File Under: News

Apr 1, 2008

Washington, D.C. -- The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) today proclaimed the opening of the H-1B visa application period as a dismal anniversary symbolizing the failure of Congress to address skilled immigration reform.

Today, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting applications for H-1B temporary work visas for Fiscal Year 2009. Last year, the cap on H-1B visas for FY2008 was exceeded on April 2nd, and USCIS held a lottery among the applications that were submitted. Despite numerous calls for action from a broad range of interests, there has been no increase in the H-1B cap during the past year. As a result, it is highly likely that we will be faced with the same situation again this year, and many U.S. companies will be unable to receive the visas they need to hire highly skilled foreign workers.

Indeed, USCIS has all but admitted as much, as they implemented an interim rule on March 24th, clarifying the rules for dealing with an expected rush of applications on and after April 1st. The shortage of visas has become so chronic that the adjudicating agency is now writing regulations based on the assumption that the cap will be hit on the first day. It is unacceptable that while our industry faces a crisis that threatens our ability to remain the IQ magnet of the world, the government seems content to write that crisis into the rules.

“We cannot continue to shut out the best and the brightest who wish to work here, many of whom have been trained here in our own universities,” said Ed Black, President & CEO of CCIA. “To do so is an exercise in human protectionism which severely undermines our efforts to maintain our global competitiveness, and is as unwise in the modern era as the Smoot-Hawley Act was generations ago. We call on Congress to enact a long-term solution to this crisis, by addressing not just the H-1B cap, but also the backlog in employment-based green cards. Our industry must be able to both attract and keep the global talent we need.”