Grassley, Durbin plan to renew H-1B fight in Senate

31.03.2009
Two U.S. senators plan to reintroduce legislation that would require employers to make a "good faith" effort to hire U.S. citizens over H-1B visa holders, after failing to win approval for a similar bill two years ago.

The earlier measure was introduced in March 2007 by , but it died after being folded into a that was killed without coming up for a vote. The two lawmakers are aiming to introduce the new bill this week, according to a spokeswoman in Grassley's office.

The widespread layoffs being caused by the may help Grassley and Durbin this time around. Earlier this year, for instance, Grassley and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) succeeded at getting on financial services firms that receive federal bailout money into the massive economic stimulus bill signed into law by President Barack Obama.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which had to in both 2007 and 2008, will begin accepting visa applications for the federal fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.

And although the weak economy is expected to reduce the number of applications, the prevailing view among immigration attorneys and supporters of efforts to raise the annual visa cap is that more than enough to meet the limit of 65,000 regular visas will again be filed quickly. High demand is expected as well for the 20,000 visas set aside for foreign workers with advanced degrees from U.S. universities.

Among those driving the demand will be foreign graduates who didn't win visas in last year's lottery but were able to under an extension approved by the Bush administration last April. Foreigners who graduated last spring and are still working on their student visas will also be eligible to apply for H-1B visas.