Bill introduced in US to eliminate abuse of H1B visa programme

[OhioChick]

19 Mar, 2013, 01.59PM IST, PTI

WASHINGTON: A top American Senator has introduced a legislation that he claims is aimed at eliminating fraud and abuse of the H-1B visa programme, but provisions of which would make it tougher for Indian-Americans to get this popular work visa.

Among other things, the H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act of 2013 ensures that an H-1B application filed by an employer that employs 50 or more US workers will not be accepted unless the employer attests that less than 50 per cent of the employer's workforce are H-1B and L visa holders.

The legislation, introduced by Senator Chuck Grassley, Ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, makes reforms to increase enforcement, modify wage requirements and ensure protection for visa holders and American workers.

"Somewhere along the line, the H-1B programme got side-tracked. The programme was never meant to replace qualified American workers, but it was instead intended as a means to fill gaps in highly specialised areas of employment. When times are tough, like they are now, it's especially important that Americans get every consideration before an employer looks to hire from abroad," Grassley said.

More: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/nri/visa-and-immigration/bill-introduced-in-us-to-eliminate-abuse-of-h1b-visa-programme/articleshow/19063552.cms

H-1B reform bill bolstered by testimony about male visa-holders

March 19, 2013 06:00 AM ET

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley has re-introduced an H-1B reform bill that once again takes aim at offshore outsourcers, and Monday he got more ammunition for that battle.

It came during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on comprehensive immigration reform and women. Testifying on the high-skills aspects of this issue, Karen Panetta, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Tufts University, said that more than eight-out-of-10 of the visas used by offshore outsourcing firms are held by males. "That's outrageous," she said. Offshore firms use about half of the H-1B visas.

Panetta, who also served as director of the IEEE's Women in Engineering Committee, was especially critical of the H-1B visa overall, and said it was being used to replace American workers with lower wage workers.

But for women, the problem is especially acute, Panetta argued. "It's hard to get promoted when you don't get hired in the first place," said Panetta. She said the existence of a preferred pipeline for new hires has a "discouraging effects on independent American women considering the STEM [science, technology, engineering and math] fields."

More: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9237692/H_1B_reform_bill_bolstered_by_testimony_about_male_visa_holders

[Cobalt Violet]

1. Not sure how it makes getting a work visa tougher for Indian-Americans.

If they are Americans they don't need a visa to work here.

[supernova]

2. It caused me to leave the IT field altogether

I realized that the work I was doing was just not considered valuable by the firm and they'd rather pay someone about 1/3 of what they were paying me. Not just H1B visas, but offshoring as well.

I now work for myself in a completely different field. I'm poorer but much happier. and my outlook for the long-term is much better than it ever was working in IT.