US Immigration News

As workpermit.com reported this week, the US government has filled its allotment of 65,000 H-1B visas for the fiscal year 2006 and is not accepting new applications.

Representativesof the high tech industry say that America does not produce enoughhome-grown workers with the needed skills, and depends on the H-1B visato supplement the workforce. Historically, H-1B visa holders come in large numbers from India, followed by China, South Korea and the Philippines.

Are 65,000 H-1B visas enough per fiscal year? Does the US need to increase the quota?

Critics say the system is being abused by companies to bring in foreigners at lower wages even when there are qualified Americans available. Would additional visas simply mean more abuse of the system?

Tell us what you think.

In a global survey of 130 businesses taken by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the United States was found to have the least friendly business immigration policies. Long processing time of work permit applications was the primary problem cited. The US was followed by China and France.

"With business travel high on executives' agendas today, many organizations now face the demanding challenges associated with managing a globally mobile workforce," The Straits Times quoted Richard Schulte, PricewaterhouseCoopers's region head for human resource services, as saying.

Sixty percent of Hispanics born in the United States don't think illegal Hispanic immigrants should be given drivers' licenses, according to a new poll. Two-thirds of Hispanics born in another country think that illegal Hispanics should be allowed to obtain drivers' licenses.

The difference between foreign-born Hispanics and native-born Hispanics on the driver's license issue highlights the disparity between the two groups on several issues, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

In July 2005, the US Department of State (DOS) announced that the target start date for the E-3 visa, designed exclusively for Australians, would be early August 2005. However, the start date has not yet been announced.

US immigration officials said they have stopped accepting applications for H-1B visas for high-tech and specialty workers because they already have filled the 2006 quota.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a division of the Department of Homeland Security, received enough applications by 11 August to meet the quota, the agency said. The cutoff of applications comes a little more than a month earlier than last year, and is the earliest the cap has ever been reached.