Visa Limit May Increase: Hope from GOP
By siliconindia   |   Friday, 30 September 2011, 00:45 IST
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Visa Limit May Increase: Hope from GOP
Bangalore: After the H-1B Visa scenario with Infosys, many IT companies had lost the hope of getting visas for their employees and businesses were hurt. The federal government of U.S. sets a limit of 140,000 employment-based green cards a year. But now there are plans of changing the limit from 7 percent to more. This limitation can have a positive impact on countries like India and China, where green card demand is high reports Computer World. China and India and IT companies like Microsoft, Google, and Oracle want the limitation of the visa rules to be increased as it gives them as opportunity for better business and importing of skilled employees. U.S. rep. Jason Chaffetz said that the coalition of high tech companies like Microsoft, Google and Oracle are supporting the legislation. There has been also leading an effort for a broader set of reforms that would affect green cards and H-1B visas. But Republicans have not shown any signs backing that proposal. Regarding the per-country limit, the U.S. State Department says 'serves to avoid monopolization of virtually all the annual limitation by applicants from only a few countries." In a recent meeting in Silicon Valley, President Barack Obama talked generally about his jobs bill and took questions from people who worked in IT. Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee had circulated a discussion draft of a bill that would eliminate the per-country limits on green cards. But according to U.S. rep. Chaffetz, and Lamar Smith bill, it would eliminate that 7 percent restriction effectively reducing the wait times for workers from India and China. But at the same time it could also lengthen the wait for green card seekers from other countries by creating a first come, first served global visa system. However Obama talked about the things government can do, such as job training and unemployment aid and he mentioned that his job is to work with everybody he can. In June, 2011, Silicon Valley's representative in Congress, Democrat Zoe Lofgren, had proposed a sweeping reform of the H-1B visa and green card programs in a new bill. According to the bill, it would make green cards available to students who earn advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics at certain schools. The bill also would make green cards available to foreign entrepreneurs who create new businesses.

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