As the Irish Government moves to attract foreign skilled professionals to the Republic, it could take a look at the foreign work visa programme the US government has had in place for 11 years.
The H-1B visa, which is given to skilled foreign professionals (those who have a bachelor's degree or equivalent), was established by the Immigration Act of 1990 specifically to bring specialists in the technology industry and other fields to the US. The visa is only valid for three years, with a possible extension for another three. Six years is the maximum time allowed to any H-1B visa-holder and a company can sponsor the same worker for a green card provided it can prove that no US worker can do that job.
The green card process takes about three years. With an H1B, an employee can become dependent on the company that sponsored him and claims of company discrimination can ensue.
However, a 15-month study conducted by the National Academy of Sciences in Washington concluded last year that it could find "no systematic evidence" of H-1B abuse among employers, or proof that the use of H-1B workers depressed wages for US workers.
The study stated that the H1B workforce was substantial enough to keep wages rising as quickly as would be expected in a tight labour market.
Last October, the US Congress passed a bill to help ease the shortage of skilled technology workers in the US and it raised the quota for the number of H-1B visas from 107,500 to 195,000 over a three-year period. The bill was brought about in part by lobbying from companies like Cisco Systems and Microsoft.
In December, the US Department of Labour expanded the regulations that apply to the employment of H-1B visa-holders. One provision stipulates that employers pay H-1B workers even during periods of downtime. Under the new regulations, employers must offer the same benefits to H-1B and US employees.
H-1B-holders are granted whistle-blower protection so they can stay in the US for the duration of their visas if they report visa abuses by their employers. The rules stipulate that if a job is terminated, the holder of an H1B visa has just 10 days to find a new sponsor or he has to leave the country.
Techies.com, a site that tracks IT industry issues, conducted a survey of more than 1,100 tech professionals earlier this summer. The survey asked a series of questions to gauge the feelings American IT workers had about their international colleagues.
Many thought the H-1B visa program was fine, once it wasn't being abused.
The survey's summary read: "US workers say the government, employers and techies alike are clearly mishandling the use of the H-1B visas, and that they are all for imposing limits, especially when program abuse affects job security and pay scales."
The least tolerance for H-1B visa workers was shown by respondents with less secure positions: those in regions with a low number of tech jobs; among entry-level respondents; and those working in saturated markets.
Almost 70 per cent of respondents told techies.com they would be comfortable or very comfortable working with or supervising an H-1B-sponsored employee. But only 55 per cent said they'd be comfortable if they had to work for one. Just 15 per cent said non-US workers were less talented or less productive than American workers.
The survey results indicated that people from India have the easiest time finding employers to sponsor them in the US. African workers, the results suggested, have the hardest time.
According to the Immigration and Naturalisation Service, about 134,000 H-1B workers came to the US from May 1998 to July 1999. Nearly 40 per cent of them were Indians who specialised in systems analysis and computer programming. Overall, Indians accounted for nearly half of the H-1B visas issued during that period.
With the recent tech meltdown and thousands of dotcom layoffs, work for many of these foreign nationals has dried up. A recent New York Times article focused on Indians living and working in New Jersey. Estimates put the number of Indian workers who have had to return home at up to 80,000. Narendar Ande, a computer consultant with MetLife in Jersey City, says he knows many Indians like himself who are on H-1B visas.
"Personally I know two guys who went back to India. They were on the bench (without a job) for almost six months before they left for India."
A new joke among Indian workers says B2B, which in the high-flying days of the internet stood for "business-to-business" now stands for "Back to Bangalore".
Next week: A continuing look at the H-1B visa program with personal experiences from foreign nationals working in IT in the United States.
carolpower@ireland.com
