US Senators urged reform in high skill immigration
by Michelle S - July 28, 2011
United States, 28th July: Large number of US Senators have pledged reform in US immigration rules as lawmakers argued that the nation is turning its back on the brightest people of the world.
US immigration needs reform--US needs immigration reform to attract high-skilled workers into the nation, stated Senators John Cornyn, a Texas Republican and Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat.
Efforts are on the way to throw open the US H-1B visa process and allow US Green Card work visas to foreigners graduating from US colleges, Schumer admitted. He added that current US immigration rules are discouraging the top talented individuals from coming to the US while other nations are alluring top engineers and scientists with big bonuses.
Limited US visas-- a big hurdle--According to Chief Executive of NASDAQ OMX Group Inc., Robert Greifeld stated that limited US visas are posing a big hurdle in attracting engineers and scientists from different nations of the world.
Lack of US visas and red tape are compelling large number of foreign students including US-trained doctoral and masters students move out of the US in search of jobs in other nations.
According to official figures, around 17,000 international students leave America after studying here each year, admitted Greifeld.
US must welcome high-skilled and talented immigrants, increase annual quota for US visas—US must work towards increasing the annual intake of US work visas if it wants to allure increased number of best and talented immigrants into the nation.
US needs more brains to keep its economy growing. And since the number of US citizens having requisite qualifications to fill vacant positions of jobs in the US, many companies are feeling the compulsion to shift their jobs overseas, admits vice president of legal and corporate affairs, Microsoft Corp., Brad Smith.
Among 4,500 new job openings in Microsoft, majority are in the field of computer science, adds Smith. And the fact that there are only limited number of US work visas for foreigners each year is adding to the woes of the company, he complains.
The annual quota for US temporary visas has been fixed to 65,000.
The category of US temporary work visas allows international graduates possessing high-skills to stay in the US between three to six years. Despite several suggestions by business leaders among others in the past, the US is still to take any significant steps for alluring the best and the brightest to the nation.
»
- 731 reads
