Kristie Ford

The local biotechnology and technology industries, highly dependent on very highly skilled workers, are waiting to see if their foreign job applicants have been awarded work visas.

U.S. immigration officials received twice the maximum number of applications for H-1B visas given to foreign individuals holding advanced degrees on the first day of the application process.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services opened the application process on April 2 for granting visas for the new fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.

Because the “cap” was exceeded the first day, the USCIS will hold a lottery to select from the applicants who applied on the first and second days.

There are enormous economic and health benefits to opening up employment to international candidates, said Kristie Ford with Biocom, a life sciences industry association representing 530-plus member companies in Southern California.

“Biotech is an industry that is going to continue to boom, and we need a work force that fits the industry needs,” she said.

Domestic businesses use the H-1B program so they can hire foreign workers in occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialized fields, such as accounting, architecture, education, engineering, law, mathematics, medicine and health, physics, social sciences and theology.

Kevin Carroll, executive director of the San Diego chapter of the American Electronics Association, said technology businesses have a history of welcoming the best and brightest workers. He said there is a need to raise the cap.

“We need more (H-1B visas) and we need them now,” said Carroll, whose AeA chapter consists of 150 technology-based member businesses.

He said that demand for technology employers is extremely high. The unemployment rate for engineers is significantly low at 2 percent, according to Carroll.

“This has an impact on the ability of San Diego to stay competitive,” he said.

Carroll added that a limited number of work visas forces companies to go to extraordinary lengths for recruiting.

Each year, the USCIS processes 65,000 H-1B visas. This year, the agency received 124,000 applications in the first two days.