Congress Failing on H1-B; Europe Proposes Blue Card

Peter Singer, Editor-in-Chief -- Semiconductor International, 11/15/2007 7:03:00 AM

George Scalise, president of the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA, San Jose), said the U.S. Congress has “truly failed” in dealing with the problem of getting H1-B visa and green card cap issues resolved. Speaking in a forecast webcast aired live yesterday and now available on demand, Scalise said that the United States attracts the best and brightest to come and study, but problems with getting visas and green cards cause them to move and work elsewhere. “We really need to modify the immigration policies as it relates to the H1-B visas and green cards so that it’s really fast, efficient and certain for these young students,” Scalise said.

The U.S. green card process can take anywhere from five to 10 years for an individual to gain permanent residency, and the 85,000 annual quota on H1-B visas for temporary foreign tech workers has been running out quickly for the last few years. This forces many prospective workers to take jobs elsewhere. “That process is badly broken, and we’re finding great difficulty in keeping those young people,” Scalise said.

Scalise noted that the Europe Union (EU) unveiled a “blue card” program in late October, designed to provide educated immigrants, including tech professionals, with a two-year, renewable permit to work and reside in an EU member nation. “The idea is they are going to have a very fast-track program there, so they’ll be able to attract these young people that have been educated here in our universities and bring them to Europe where they’ll be able to get the equivalent of a H1-B visa and get their green card and build their lives and careers in Europe,” Scalise said.

Adding to the problem is that the U.S. Senate approved a spending bill amendment that could raise employers' H1-B visa fees to $5000 per worker from $1500. The additional fees will be used to fund new scholarship programs for U.S. students pursuing technology-, math- and science-related degrees.

Congress did vote to put $8M in for a technology focus center program, a $40M/year effort that has been underway for 10 years, half funded by the SIA and half by the Department of Defense (DoD). “This will essentially get us fully funded for 2008,” Scalise said.

President Bush also recently signed the America COMPETES Act, which is an authorizing bill that will increase funding for National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Energy (DoE). “This is consistent with the doubling of funding for basic research that has been committed to by both the Congress and the President,” Scalise said. He noted, however, that it is only an authorizing bill, not the appropriations. “We still have to cross the hurdle of getting the appropriations bill in place,” he said.

Scalise said the House has passed an extension of the R&D tax credit, which is now awaiting Senate action. The Committee on Ways and Means has also put forward a tax reform proposal that Scalise described as a “start for dialog.” He noted the the number of investment opportunities that are now available around the world, including China, Singapore, Ireland and Israel. “We’re losing investment at a very rapid rate,” Scalise said. “If we’re going to solve this problem, then we have to have a tax reform package that is going to allow us to be competitive here in the U.S. to retain these investments here as opposed to allowing them all to go overseas.”