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Schooling Could Help Bend H-1B Visa Rules

Companies courting a scientist or engineer from overseas may soon have a better chance of hiring that person. It all depends on where that person went to school.

If the person refined his or her talent by getting an advanced degree from a U.S. university, they may qualify for an exemption from H-1B visa limits.

The federal government capped H-1B visas , the kind given to talented tech workers , at 65,000 this year.

But the wide-ranging budget bill that Congress approved in mid-November contains a change in the rules covering H-1B visas. Specifically, the bill would exempt 20,000 foreign nationals who earned advanced degrees in the United States from the yearly limit of 65,000 visas.

As of Dec. 1, the bill was on President Bush’s desk, awaiting his signature.

“While we wish Congress hadn’t created another H-1B exemption category, we’re pleased that it was capped at 20,000,” said a statement from the national office of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The IEEE is critical of the H-1B program. The organization says 100,000 U.S. technical professionals are unemployed.

By contrast, the AeA, formerly known as the American Electronics Association, would like to see the limit on H-1B visas raised. More than half the people getting advanced science degrees are foreign-born, according to Kevin Carroll, the executive director of AeA’s San Diego chapter.

Congress allowed 195,000 new applications for H-1B visas in 2001, 2002 and 2003, then reduced that cap to 65,000 in 2004.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said Oct. 1 that it had already received enough applications to fill the 65,000 slots in 2005’s H-1B program.

Some local technology companies rely heavily on foreign-born workers. San Diego-based Wireless Facilities, Inc., which builds and operates wireless telecom infrastructure, said 145 employees, or 15 percent of its U.S. work force, held H-1B visas as of Sept. 30.

Still, specialized high-tech companies steer away from that kind of talent.

“We need U.S. citizens for classified and government programs,” said Bruce Rowe of Carlsbad-based ViaSat, a maker of satellite communications equipment.

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