Visa rules hurt US business: Cos

Tightened border security has tripped up business plans in ways that threaten to hurt US firms, and the problem has only worse ned three yea...

Tightened border security has tripped up business plans in ways that threaten to hurt US firms, and the problem has only worse ned three years after Sept. 11, companies and immigration lawyers said.

For example, a high-profile China Business Summit organised by Dow Jones and Harvard University for this week was abruptly cancelled because key people from China were unable to obtain visas in time. About five to ten people had to drop out at the last minute, said spokesman Julian Chang at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

8220;While interest in the summit remains high, travel and visa complexities prevented many key speakers and delegates from attending the event,8221; a statement posted on Dow Jones Conferences8217; website said. Speakers scheduled for the China summit included the CFO of China8217;s largest computer maker Lenovo, Mary Ma, and the General Manager of China8217;s leading beverage producer Wahaha Group, Zong Qinghou.

In the past, Chinese officers holding business passports did not need to appear in person for visas, but now the US is insisting they appear. 8220;If they are CFOs and CEOs of companies, it8217;s clear that no one is going to come and stay 8212; they only want to visit and do their business,8221; said Freddi Weintraub, a lawyer at leading immigration law firm, Fragomen, DelRey, Bernsen 038; Loewy.

Besides visitors, Washington has also made it more difficult for US fims to hire foreign nationals. Special work visas, called H-1Bs, have been used to recruit foreign nationals, from programmers to actors. Congress raised the cap on H-1B visas to 195,000 a year for the financial years ending in 2001 to 2003, but cut it to 65,000 for 2004 and 2005.

Congress has agreed to exempt from the limit 20,000 foreign students with degrees of masters or higher from US universities, but lobbyists said that is far from enough.

Two dozen US chief executives, including Steve Ballmer of Microsoft, Carly Fiorina of Hewlett-Packard and Craig Barrett of Intel urged Congress in a letter dated Nov. 10 to end the quota system.

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Semiconductor makers like Texas Instruments are highly dependent on foreign electrical engineers. 8220;If 70 percent of the people you can hire are foreign nationals, you have to hire them, it8217;s a big competitive issue,8221; said Paula Collins, Texas8217;s director of government affairs.

Companies say they might be enticed to send work abroad if they cannot find enough qualified workers in the US. 8220;If we cannot get them to come to us, then we will go to them,8221; said Christopher Lockheed, Chief Marketing Officer of software maker Mercury . 8212; Reuters