alt="Salaries for IT" align=left
src="http://itproductivity.org/images/ithiring.gif">U.S. employers again hit
the cap of 65,000 for the controversial visas that allow foreign workers in
specialty fields such as computer science and programming to work in the United
States for three to six years.


Despite an early slump in U.S. employer demand for H-1B visas, the U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Dec. 22 it had reached the 65,000
cap for the controversial guest worker visas favored by technology companies.
H-1B visas allow companies to hire foreign workers with special skills to work
in the United States for three to six years.


USCIS officials intend to up the ante of verifying and investigating the
validity of H-1B visa usage by companies. Immigration officials will ramp up law
enforcement to help thwart fraud and quell political pressure that wants to
severely limit H-1B visa usage.


border=0 alt="" src="http://itproductivity.org/images/order_Red.gif" width=120
height=22>


The United States Customs and Immigrations Services plans to up its
enforcement of the law on H-1B visas and the U.S. companies that take advantage
of them by conducting 25,000 on-site inspections in 2010. IBM, Microsoft,
Oracle, Google and many technology giants and smaller IT shops employ temporary
H-1B visa holders to fill U.S.-based jobs from foreign countries. After a
Congressional report showed a range of fraud within the H-1B visa program, the
pressure to enforce the law on the books has increased.


In 2009, the USCIS conducted 5,191 on-site inspections, according to a report
in Computerworld, with many of the inspections being unannounced visits. The
25,000 inspection effort in 2010 could be a serious boost to quelling fraud, but
it may not be enough for those in the U.S. government who advocate for stronger
limits on H-1B visas.

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