H1-B is passe, ‘W’ visa is hot

Indrani Bagchi / TNN / Aug 4, 2005, 07:12 IST

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The new comprehensive immigration bill has a provision for W visa category.

NEW DELHI: If a new piece of US legislation goes through, you could soon be applying for a ��W�� visa instead of the more familiar H1-B.
In a comprehensive immigration bill tabled in the US Senate on July 19, Senators John Cornyn and Jon Kyl (both Republicans) have proposed the creation of a new W visa category, which would allow temporary workers into the US to take jobs that cannot be filled from within the country.
Part of a larger immigration reform package which strengthens border enforcement and includes a mandatory return-home provision for immigrants, the new visa would be applicable to people applying from outside the US. Illegal immigrants, says the bill, would be required to return from the US and re-apply through legal channels.
Ever since president George Bush announced in 2004 that immigration reform would be on top of his agenda there have been several high-profile bills introduced in the US Congress, all of which would have an impact on immigrants and workers from India who are one of the largest groups of people travelling to the US every year.

Incidentally, Cornyn is one of the chairs of the India Caucus in the US Congress. Other similar immigration reform bills have been tabled by Edward Kennedy-John McCain and another by Tom Tancredo.
The Cornyn-Kyl bill says temporary work visas would authorise employment for two years, after which the immigrant would have to return home for a year, and then come back for a further two-year period. This process can be repeated three times.

The Kennedy-McCain bill allows for ....
...up to six consecutive years of authorised work. Bush himself has the beginnings of a temporary workers plan. On the face of it, its not very different from the present H1-B program, where the visa is valid for three years and renewable for another three.
The single thread running through these Bills is that nobody gets permanent residence afterwards. This is interesting since the US Congress recently eased rules for H-1B visa-holders who wanted to become permanent residents. After six years in the H1-B program, foreign skilled workers now have a much easier route to green cards than earlier. Clearly the US Congress is open to many voices, and the room is open for advocacy by interested groups like CII and Nasscom.
The US government��s major focus is on border security, its enforcement and resolving the problem of illegal migrants. It will be the job of majority leader Tom De Lay to work out a "unified strategy" with Congress and White House on this issue.
The H1-B program today is used most in the knowledge industries and, according to the Migration Policy Institute, almost half of those admitted on H-1B visas in the last six to eight years have been from India.
The next largest source country has been China.

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