US Working Visa Cap To Be Increased
The H-1B visa is the type of visa sought after by highly skilled migrant employees who have been given employment offers by companies in the United States. In order to work in the US, one must have an employment offer and be petitioned by that employer to come to work in the US. During the working visa application, US have set a limit or what they call the H-1B cap. This cap is the annual numerical limitation set by Congress. This figure is the allowed number of foreign workers that can be admitted to work in the US and apply for a working or H-1B visa.
Back in the year 2007, the US H-1B cap or quota for 2008 was set at 65,000. This means that they will only accept 65,000 foreign employees to come to the US and start work for year 2008. However, in 2007, the quota was filled in just one day. The petitions or applications have exceeded the quota for over a 2 to 1 ratio. In the previous year in 2006, the cap for 2007 working visas was filled in about seven weeks. It was already a record during that time. Imagine the surprise when in 2007, the US working visa cap for 2008 was filled in one day. They received about 150,000 H-1B petitions on the first day the application process was opened.
After this all time record, companies have been constantly appealing to the Congress for an increase in the cap. Although there is an extra 20,000 H-1B exemptions for master graduates of US universities, the cap is still thought to be not enough. Companies like Google, Microsoft, and Sun Microsystems are just a few requesting increases from the Congress. However, there is still no definite answer.