More US Job Visas For Foreign Hi-Tech Workers

[caption id="attachment_2058" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Tech companies in the United States Would be Able to Hire More Foreign Talent with Ease[/caption] The US Republican and Democratic Senators introduced a legislation that would allow US technology firms to hire more foreign talent with ease. The number of US job visas would be increased from present 65,000 to 115,000 a year allowing foreign workers with education and experience in Science, Technology, and Engineering to come and work in the US. The cap could further go up to 195,000 if the demand for foreign talent increases in the days ahead. Companies like Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Apple, and others have been raising the issue of easy access to foreign talent with US government for a long time now. Article on The Asian Age quoted Andy Halataei, vice president of the Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC), “This bill would help us to attract the best and brightest minds who want to bring their talents to our companies by using a market driven approach to match what our economy needs in terms of high-skilled employees.” ITIC represents many companies including Aol, Google, Dell, Facebook and Microsoft. This legislation comes as a good news to the foreign students already in the US studying STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), and also those working in technology companies across the world. The debate on increasing the quota is on in the US Senate. Few say that there is no  shortage of skilled American workers for high-tech jobs, others strongly believe that increasing the US job visa quota is the need of the hour. Legislation to increase foreigners’ access to those jobs, Sessions said, was an attempt by industry to get access to cheaper labour, freezing out US workers. The H1B quota opens on 1st April each year inviting applications for 65,000 job visas. However, if all goes well, 115,000 people would benefit each year. Source: The Asian Age | Reuters