Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Visa competition heating up

By: Jack Zemlicka, [email protected]//March 16, 2011//

Visa competition heating up

By: Jack Zemlicka, [email protected]//March 16, 2011//

Listen to this article
Yiying Xiong, an engineer at Mead & Hunt Inc., looks over paperwork Tuesday at the firm's Madison office. Xiong said she considers herself lucky to have landed a visa to work in America. (Staff photo by Kevin Harnack)

The search for qualified candidates is taking some companies outside Wisconsin and the U.S. even though in-state workers are desperate for jobs.

“We’re not a country that turns out as many architects and engineers as needed for the future,” said Wendy Culver, human resources director at Mead & Hunt Inc., Madison. “So we find a lot of those professionals from other countries that need jobs and come here.”

Competition for temporary H-1B work visas – for foreign workers with at least a bachelor’s degree in a specialty field – has heated up since 2004, when U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services took over the program from the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

INS had an H-1B visa application cap of 195,000, which never was met. CIS lowered that cap to 65,000 and, in 2007, hit the limit within 48 hours of submission eligibility.

“I’ve talked with friends who described it as a lottery,” said Chinese-born Yiying Xiong, an engineer with Mead & Hunt. “Even if they have a solid background and meet the credentials, it’s still a matter of luck.”

The increased competition could result in an influx of work for area attorneys, said Grant Sovern, an immigration lawyer with Quarles & Brady LLP.

But Sovern said he isn’t yearning for a crunch such as those seen before the recession, when available visas would fill up within days of submission eligibility April 1.

“It’s like April 15 for immigration lawyers,” he said of the workload.

The costs to submit an application don’t always pay off for clients, however, Sovern admitted, especially when there’s increased competition around the April 1 opening date for applications.

“We end up charging clients that don’t get any benefit which is difficult business,” he said. “For better client relationships, I’d much rather prefer to have H-1Bs available throughout the year.”

Competition softened during the recession, Sovern said, because companies were reluctant to invest in foreign professionals, and it took months rather than days to reach the employment limit.

“It’s one of the longest periods where there have been H-1B visas available in the last 10 years,” he said.

It wasn’t until Jan. 26 of this year that the 2010 limit was met, more than nine months after employers were eligible to file.

As the economy gradually improves, Sovern said, he expects companies to be more assertive in seeking foreign professionals to fill specialty positions.

Still, many companies seek foreign professionals as a last resort, he said.

“Very few American companies want to talk about not hiring American workers,” Sovern said.

For firms with an interest in the latest technologies, however, looking solely stateside isn’t an option, said Chicago immigration lawyer Sara Dill.

“Certainly that is one area where we are lacking in our own country,” she said. “With a lot of the green and clean engineering initiatives, foreign workers are definitely drawing a lot of interest.”

Culver agreed that colleges and universities in the U.S. are not producing professionals in the engineering, architecture and technical fields as fast as schools are in India or China, making foreign workers more attractive. Mead & Hunt, Culver said, has hired more employees through visas during the last five years than in her first 10 with the firm.

To qualify for an H-1B visa, a foreign worker needs at least a bachelor’s degree in a specialty field. Employers are required to offer a salary consistent with the prevailing wage for the position in the geographic area and can renew the three-year visa for an additional three years.

Culver suggested some companies would just as soon avoid the hassle of the process, which can take months of planning prior to submitting an application and cost upwards of $4,000 in attorney’s fees.

“I know some companies decide not to follow through because it is a process,” she said. “But I see it as part of doing business.”

Jack Zemlicka can be reached at [email protected].

Polls

Should Steven Avery be granted a new evidentiary hearing?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Legal News

See All Legal News

WLJ People

Sea all WLJ People

Opinion Digests