H1B

[geer at world.std.com]

"Special Visa's Use for Tech Workers Is Challenged"
 New York Times (05/30/03) P. C1; Hafner, Katie; Preysman, Daniel
	 

	 With IT employment numbers weak, U.S. technology workers are
	 upset over the use of L-1 visas, which allow companies to
	 transfer foreign employees to U.S. offices.  Far fewer foreign
	 workers are being issued H-1B visas and Congress will likely
	 let the cap on those visas fall to just 65,000 on Oct. 1.
	 However, use of the more obscure L-1 visa has increased almost
	 40 percent between 1999 and 2002 to 41,739 visas granted.
	 Critics say mostly Indian outsourcing firms are using L-1 visas
	 to place workers at client sites, where they are sometimes
	 trained by the person they eventually replace.  Rep. John L.
	 Mica (R-Fla.) plans to introduce a bill that would prevent
	 companies from hiring L-1 workers.  He says the law will
	 protect American jobs from lower-cost foreign labor.  Wipro's
	 Sridhar Ramasubbu says the company will switch to H-1B visas if
	 Mica's bill passes, and that the financial compensation for
	 H-1B workers and L-1 visa holders is the same at Wipro.  The
	 L-1 visa does not have the same equal-pay legal requirement as
	 the H-1B visa.  American Immigration Lawyers Association
	 general counsel Daryl Buffenstein says critics of the L-1 visa
	 do not understand its importance for organizations that need to
	 transfer workers to the United States. He says, "It will hurt
	 employment in the United States if we impede the ability of
	 legitimate users to transfer managers and specialists between
	 different affiliates of international organizations."  The L-1
	 visa, which has been in use for 33 years, has generated
	 controversy before.  The General Accounting Office three years
	 ago called the fraudulent use of L-1 visas "the new wave in
	 alien smuggling."

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/30/technology/30VISA.html 
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