| H-1B Visa Limit Raised by 30,000 |
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The US Senate Budget Committee is considering a proposal to hike the number of H-1B visas given to foreigners to work in US but the firms may have to cough up higher fees for those they sponsor.
US Senate panel has approved 30,000 additional H-1B visas a year to foreign professionals instead of the originally proposed 60,000. The committee has tagged on a requirement that the H-1B application fees levied on US employers be bumped up by $500 to avoid any major aggravation of the federal budget deficit.
A boon for Indian techies, who have been the principal beneficiaries of the H-1B scheme, the new measure has a few more hurdles to clear. To be tagged to a broader budget bill, it will have to be approved by the full Senate. Before that, differences will have to be reconciled with a House version, relating to fee structure for another popular category of work visas, L-1.
Launched 15 years ago to meet shortfalls in American skilled workers, and later becoming a major source for meeting needs of the burgeoning IT industry, the number of H-1Bs rose to nearly 200,000 between 2001 and 2003 as Silicon Valley clamored for more computer skilled workforce. American universities were unable to meet the demand.
Immigrant experts said 310,000 H-1B visas were unused, majority of which pertain between 2001 and 2003 when the US had increased the limit to 195,000. This was reduced to 65,000 in the year 2004.
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