Senate cracks down on exploitation of H-1B visas

Flag1The US Senate is planning to crack down on companies that abuse the H-1B system by outsourcing technology jobs with brand new rules to be issued by the legislation on immigration.  An outline from the Senate suggests that IT sourcing companies, the great majority of which are based in India, are the main recipients of the highly skilled H-1B US visas. 

The bill could end up costing outsourcing companies over $10,000 in fees and reduce the use of such visas to half of the workforce of an employer.  Over 50% of the workforces of a lot of offshore companies that are based in the United States are overseas workers in possession of temporary visas.

“These companies are using this visa program to undercut the American worker and undercut American companies hiring workers,” notes Rochester Institute of Technology outsourcing expert Ron Hira, who is the son of immigrants from India according to the Financial Times.

Those who are attempting to get hold of H-1B visas make use of them in two primary ways.  Firms have to staff jobs that can only be done in the United States – including IT support for financial services – and import workers to learn the skills before then sending them back to India to train others.  Hira says that the immigration rule enforcement from the Senate will not completely put an end to outsourcing but will assist with changing the hiring process for a number of firms and bring overseas workers into bigger US companies.