US panel drops plan to add 30,000 H1B visas

A panel of the us House of Representatives and Senate has dropped a plan from the budget bill to add some 30,000 H1B visas, a move that is bound to disappoint thousands of skilled Indians seeking jobs in America. The House of Representatives cleared the final budget trimming of nearly US $ 40 b and the Senate is close to giving its consent. The original senate plan had not only the addition of 30,000 H1B visas on an annual basis; but also a net addition of 90,000 more employment based Green Cards that offered permanent residency to skilled workers. Fee for these would be raised.

Vice-President Dick Cheney is said to be rushing back from Pakistan to break what is seen as a possible tie vote. The uproar in the senate has nothing to do with immigration proposals, it has to do with conferees coming away with more cuts in such programmes as medicaid. Congress has a cap of 65,000 H1B visas for 2004 and this figure had already been reached for the fiscal year that began October 1.

When the House passed its version of the budget cutting measure, it had no language on the H1B visas or the rise in the numbers of permanent residency for skilled workers. The House version of the budget trimming exercise had only a provision to raise the L-1 visa fees—visas that companies use to transfer workers.

The conference committee of the House and the Senate left out not only provisions regarding the H-1B visas and a rise in permanent residency numbers for skilled workers but also any increase in fees for the L-1 visas. —PTI