【英语生活】美国今年专业人员工作签证需求猛增

For the first time since the financial crisis, U.S. employers are expected within days to reach a limit on the yearly allotment of applications for coveted skilled-worker visas, a sign of the strengthening economy that means some employers will rely on a lottery to fill key positions.

U.S. companies each year can sponsor a total of 65,000 foreigners with at least a bachelor's degree for a so-called H-1B visa, many of which go to programmers and other specialized workers. The program allocates an additional 20,000 visas each year to foreign nationals with advanced degrees from U.S. universities.

Government and company officials predict employers by Friday will exhaust the quota for this year's application season, which opened Monday for jobs starting in October or later. If that happens, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that runs the program, will randomly select applications that will then be considered for visas if any applications received before the cap are rejected.

The last time employers reached the congressionally mandated limit in less than a week was 2008. In subsequent years, the weak economy left thousands of H-1B spots unfilled until later in the season. Demand for the program has increased in the past two years as companies accelerated hiring overall.

The rising demand comes as the Senate moves closer to a broad immigration bill that would, among other things, revamp a series of work-visa programs. Last week, the AFL-CIO and U.S. Chamber of Commerce agreed on a new low-wage-visa program, a major breakthrough in talks. The Senate bill also includes a proposal to increase the number of H-1B visas granted each year.

Companies apply for an H-1B with a job candidate in mind, a process that typically involves immigration attorneys and several thousand dollars per petition. The H-1Bs are granted for three years but can be renewed for a total of six years.

Mark Koestler, co-chairman of the business-immigration practice at Kramer Levin in New York, said the law firm is handling three times as many applications for H-1Bs as a year ago and more than before the recession.

'There is a dramatic upswing in hiring professionals at a high level,' said the attorney, whose clients include media, banking and insurance companies. 'This is a bellwether for the economy.'

There is a misconception that the visas are used only by technology giants such as Microsoft Corp., he said. In fact, many small companies also use them widely.

The lottery concerns employers like Pocket Gems Inc., a San Francisco mobile-games company that relies heavily on the visas. About 30 of its 150 employees hold the visas, including nationals of Brazil, Kenya, India, Indonesia and Russia. Among them are graduates of Stanford and Harvard universities.

The company said it filed several applications Monday for high-tech professionals.

'Having the talent can be the difference between success and failure,' said Ben Liu, Pocket Gems' chief executive. 'We made sure we were ready as soon as the window opened' for filing applications.

U.S. high-tech companies for years have called on Congress to increase the cap on visas for skilled foreigners. Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg is co-founding a political-advocacy group composed of technology leaders to push for federal immigration changes, among other issues.

But some critics of the visa program say it displaces qualified Americans and that companies hire foreign workers because they command lower salaries and fewer benefits than Americans.

Many H-1Bs are issued to offshore outsourcing companies, many of them from India, which critics say have a business model based on sending foreign workers to the U.S. to learn jobs and then moving them overseas.

'They are not using the visa to bring in the best and the brightest,' said Daniel Costa, an immigration-policy analyst at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.

A 2011 Government Accountability Office report said the program lacks enough controls to ensure employers are abiding by the rules and that many H-1B visa holders earn less than local workers in comparable jobs.

'There is always going to be a huge demand for workers who can be legally underpaid compared to similarly situated American workers,' Mr. Costa said. Thus, he said the speed at which the quota is being exhausted doesn't necessarily reflect true demand. for workers.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) last month introduced a measure designed to ensure American workers aren't harmed by visas like the H-1B. 'The program was never meant to replace qualified American workers, but it was instead intended as a means to fill gaps in highly specialized areas of employment,' he said in a statement.

Companies that use H-1B visas argue the market, rather than Congress, should dictate the number of visas issued. They also say they are hiring Americans for jobs but that the U.S. isn't producing enough professionals in science, technology, engineering or mathematics to spur innovation and growth.

Among companies lobbying Congress for more H-1B visas is Intel Corp.

The company, which does three-quarters of its manufacturing, and research and development in the U.S., said it is bracing for the lottery.

'We have needs for very specific skills,' Intel spokeswoman Lisa Malloy said. 'If you increase visas you are not displacing U.S. workers. We only hire individuals on a visa when there is an identified skill shortage.' She said the majority of foreigners the company seeks to hire are already in the U.S. with advanced degrees from U.S. universities.

Doug Oberhelman, chief executive of Caterpillar Inc., called Monday on the government to issue more H-1Bs. He said that 'gaps in our workforce' undermine the Peoria, Ill., heavy-equipment maker. 'There are more than 100 Chinese companies looking to be the next Caterpillar,' he said. 'The number of H-1B visas is capped each year without regard to current market demand.'

At a Duke University conference last week, a senior International Business Machines Corp. official said the company fills many important positions with foreign graduates of U.S. universities. Still, IBM struggles to secure visas for all the workers it requires, said Nicole Hedrick, global immigration chief. 'We have all these positions we cannot fill,' she said.

Amrita Mahale, who earned a master's in engineering from Stanford, is among employees on an H-1B visa at Pocket Gems, the California game company. The 28-year-old from India uses advanced analytics to develop the marketing budget and also helps the firm build features to attract users to its apps.

Ms. Mahale hopes to remain in the U.S. as long as the work is 'exciting' and she has a visa.

Miriam Jordan

预计今年美国雇主申请技术人员签证的数量将在几天之内达到上限，这在金融危机之后尚属首次，也是美国经济日趋强劲的信号，意味着一些雇主能否为关键岗位招到人将通过抽签决定。

相关报道
美国的企业每年总共可以为6.5万名至少拥有本科学历的外国人申请H-1B签证，这种签证主要发放给了程序员和其他专业人才。该项目每年还向拥有美国大学高等学位的外国人士提供额外的20,000个签证。

政府官员和企业管理人员预计，美国企业将在本周五之前用光今年的申请名额。今年的申请期从周一开始，签证从10月开始生效。申请数量达到上限之后，如果名额内的申请被拒绝的话，管理这一项目的联邦公民及移民服务局(Citizenship and Immigration Services)将会随机选择一些申请纳入考虑。

美国企业上一次在不到一周的时间用光国会规定的名额是在2008年。随后的几年，脆弱的经济导致申请期末还有数千个H-1B名额空缺。过去两年，由于企业招聘全面加速，对该签证的需求出现增长。

Jason Henry for The Wall Street Journal来自印度的马哈勒是一名工程师，她持有H-1B签证，在旧金山的手机游戏公司Pocket Gems工作。与此同时，参议院向达成一个广泛的移民法案又迈进了一步，这部移民法案将修改一系列工作签证项目。上周，美国劳工联合会-产业工会联合会(AFL-CIO)和美国商会(U.S. Chamber of Commerce)就一个新的低工资签证计划达成一致，这是双方谈判的一个主要突破。议会的法案中还包括增加每年H-1B签证发放数量的建议。

公司为一名求职者申请H-1B签证一般需要聘请移民律师以及每次几千美元的花费。H-1B的有效期是三年，但经过延期再续后总共可以有六年的有效期。

凯来律师事务所(Kramer Levin)驻纽约的商业移民操作联席董事凯斯特勒(Mark Koestler)说，这家律师事务目前所处理的签证申请数量是一年前的三倍，比经济衰退之前还要多。

这名律师说，企业雇佣高层专业人士的数量大幅回升。这名律师的客户包括媒体、银行和保险公司。他说，这是经济状况的晴雨表。

他说，有人认为只有微软(Microsoft Corp.)等技术巨头才会使用这种签证，这是一种误解，事实上，大量小公司也广泛地使用这种签证。

Pocket Gems Inc.这样的公司对抽签的方法表示担忧。Pocket Gems Inc.是旧金山的一家手机游戏公司，该公司严重依赖这种签证。在该公司的150名员工中，大约30人持有H-1B签证，包括来自巴西、肯尼亚、印度和俄罗斯的员工。他们中的一些人是斯坦福大学(Stanford University)和哈佛大学(Harvard University)的毕业生。

这家公司说，周一为几名高科技专业人员提交了签证申请。

Pocket Gems的首席执行长Ben Liu说，人才是决定成败的关键，我们已经努力确保在可以提交申请时已经做好了准备。

多年以来，美国高科技公司一直指望国会增加外国技术熟练人员的签证名额。Facebook Inc.的首席执行长扎克伯格(Mark Zuckerberg)正在与人共同创立一个由科技行业领导者组成的政治倡议组织，该组织将致力于推动改变联邦移民法规以及其他一些议题。

但一些批评上述签证计划的人士说，这个计划会挤占符合资格的美国人的工作岗位。他们还说，企业雇佣外国人是因为给予他们的工资和福利比给予美国人的低。

很多H-1B签证发放给了境外的外包公司，其中很多是印度企业。批评人士说，印度外包公司有一种商业模式，他们将外国工人送到美国学习工作岗位所需的技能，然后再转派到海外。

美国左倾智库经济政策研究所(Economic Policy Institute)的移民政策分析师科斯塔(Daniel Costa)说，他们并不是利用签证将最好、最聪明的人引进美国来。

美国政府问责局(Government Accountability Office) 2011年的一份报告说，这一签证计划缺乏足够的控制机制，难以保证雇主遵守规定，很多H-1B签证持有人都比与他们做同样工作的美国本地人挣得少。

科斯塔说，对于雇主能够合法地使其工资水平低于同等工作岗位上美国从业者的外籍人员，市场一直存在巨大的需求。他说，因此，名额用光的速度不一定反映出对这类从业者的真实需求。

艾奥瓦州共和党参议员格拉斯利(Chuck Grassley)上个月提出了一项意在保护美国从业者不受H-1B一类签证损害的措施。他在一份声明中说，这一签证项目的目的根本不是用外籍从业者取代符合资格的美国从业者，而是意在弥补高度专业化领域的用工缺口。

使用H-1B签证的公司说，应该由市场而不是国会来确定发放的签证数量。他们还说，自己是在雇佣美国人，但美国在科学研究、技术、工程和数学领域没有培养出足够多的专业人员来推动创新和增长。

游说国会发放更多H-1B签证的公司中就包括英特尔(Intel Corp.)。

英特尔有四分之三的制造业务和研发工作是在美国进行的。该公司说，它支持用抽签的办法来增加H-1B签证的发放。

英特尔发言人马洛伊(Lisa Malloy)说，我们对专业性技能有需求。增加签证并不是挤占美国人的工作岗位。我们只是在美国本地缺乏相关技能的人才时，才会雇佣外国人。她说，该公司争取雇佣的外国人绝大多数已经人在美国，从美国高等院校获得了硕士或博士学位。

卡特彼勒(Caterpillar Inc.)首席执行长奥伯赫尔曼(Doug Oberhelman)周一呼吁政府发放更多H-1B签证。他说，美国的劳动力缺口损害了卡特彼勒；有100多家中国企业正想方设法要成为下一个卡特彼勒呢。奥伯赫尔曼说，H-1B签证数量每年的上限都没有考虑到当前的市场需求。

在上周于杜克大学(Duke University)召开的一个大会上，国际商业机器公司(IBM)负责全球移民事务的主管赫德里克(Nicole Hedrick)，该公司的很多重要职位都是由毕业于美国高等院校的外国留学生担任的，尽管如此，IBM还是难以为它需要的所有外籍工作人员申请到签证。她说，我们有很多职位无法招到合适的人员。

马哈勒(Amrita Mahale)拥有斯坦福大学工程硕士学位。她是加州游戏公司Pocket Gems持有H-1B签证的员工之一。这位28岁的印度籍员工使用先进的分析手段来制定营销预算，同时还帮助该公司构建吸引用户使用其移动应用的功能。

马哈勒说，只要工作令人兴奋，自己有签证，自己就希望留在美国。

Miriam Jordan

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