Fourth Year in a Row, 65K H-1B Visas Exhausted in Just Five Days

The clamour for H1B work visas seem to have increased exponentially.

65,000 visas in just five days. (Photo: iStockphoto)

The H1-B work visa for the US has seen a massive change recently, by way of tripling of its fee. But that doesn’t seem to have dampened the enthusiasm of Indian IT companies if the number of applications filed for the coming year is anything to go by.

Beginning 1 April, the quota of 65,000 visas was exhausted in just five days, reports The Times of India. This has happened for the fourth year in a row, indicating the shortage of skilled IT professionals in the US.

In 2012 in took 235 days to cap the quota set by the US Congress.

In 2013, it took 73 days to exhaust the H1-B limit.

The United states Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) hasn’t revealed the number of incoming applications but it is reportedly higher than the 230,000 applications in 2015. These applications go into a lottery system after which petitions are randomly selected to meet the 65,000 quota for the general category and 20,000 for the advanced-degree exemption.

Once again, we see the absurdity of our broken immigration system and the consequences of Congressional inaction. One week -that’s all the time our country allows for high-skilled immigrants to apply for H-1B visas to try to enter the lottery to be able to stay in the US. Immigration has long been our country’s greatest competitive advantage in a global economy , and we should be encouraging the best and the brightest to continue to grow their businesses and create American jobs here at home, instead of denying those dreams and encouraging them to do so in other countries for our competitors. Hitting the H-1B visa cap today underscores the urgent need for reform, and we’ll continue working every day to pass a permanent legislative solution.

<b>Todd Schulte, President, Mark Zuckerberg’s advocacy group FWD.us</b>

Recently, the US Congress imposed a special fee of up to $4,500 on the H-1B and L-1 visas popular among Indian IT companies to fund a 9/11 healthcare act and biometric tracking system.

Also read:
US Doubles H-1B Visa Fee, Modi had Raised Concern With Obama
Donald Trump: H-1B Visa Unfair to American Workers, Must End
India Voices Concern Over Donald Trump’s Remark on H1B Visa