L-1 party may end soon

Date: Tuesday, March 11, 2003 10:20 AM

H-1B and JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

www.ZaZona.com

This article is very blunt in admitting that the L-1 intra-company visa
is used to hire foreign professionals at lower wages. The appeal of the
L-1 is that there are no controls or oversight so it's easy and cheap
to replace American workers. The H-1B program is riddled with loopholes
but the L-1 visa is far worse. The L-1 visa is a blank check for
companies that wish to exploit cheap labor. Companies are using H-1Bs
and L-1s at a very rapid pace, and as you can see, the L-1 is gaining
in popularity.

The numbers of visas granted in 2002:

H-1B: 384,000 visas
L-1: 329,000 visas

Total: 713,000 American Jobs Lost in 2002

It may be wishful thinking that our Congressmen would do the right
thing and reform the L-1 visa program, but this article indicates that
the issue is at least being talked about.

Here's how to contact the four legislators mentioned in the article:

Representative John Hostettler (R-IN)
101 NW Martin Luther King Jr Blvd
Room 124 Evansville, IN 47708
TOLL FREE: (800) 321-9830

Washington, DC Office
TEL: (202) 225-4636
John.Hostettler@mail.house.gov

Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX)
Guaranty Bank Building
1100 NE Loop 410, Suite 640
San Antonio, TX 78209
210-821-5024

Washington, DC Office
202-225-4236
202-225-8628 fax

Representative Elton Gallegly (R-CA)

2829 Townsgate Road, Suite 315
Thousand Oaks, CA 91361-3018
Toll Free: (800) 423-0023
FAX: (805) 497-0039

Washington Office
Phone: (202) 225-5811
FAX: (202) 225-1100

Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
Washington, DC
202-224-3521
saxby_chambliss@chambliss.senate.gov

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?artid=39904404

The Economic Times Online
Printed from economictimes.indiatimes.com >Politics/Nation

Visa power: L-1 party may end soon

URMI A GOSWAMI

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2003 10:30:20 AM ]
NEW DELHI: Indian IT companies, especially bigger players like Wipro,
have been using the L-1 visa (intra-company transferee visa) to deal
with the declining number of H1-B visas (speciality occupation visa).
But the party may soon be over.

There is mounting opposition in the US over the L-1 programme. Measures
are being considered on Capitol Hill and by the Immigration and
Naturalization Services, which may make entry via the L-1 route
tougher.

The number of new L-1 visas has risen by 50% between 1998 and '02.
According to the US state department, the period between October 1, '02
and February 28, '03 saw a 10% rise in L-1 visas.

Compare this with a 27% drop in H1-B visas during fiscal 02, and a
further 17% drop in the first five months of fiscal '03 (October '02 to
February '03). In '01, there were 3,84,000 H1-B temporary workers in
the US, while the number of intra-company transfers or L-1 workers was
3,29,000.

Part of the mounting opposition to the L-1 programme stems from the
fact that some companies in the US are allegedly laying off American
workers to replace them with techies from countries like India, by
outsourcing work to these overseas companies.

The attraction of the L-1 programme for the American employer is that
it allows them to hire trained professionals at lower wages, a big
advantage in times of economic downturn. Unlike the H-1B visa, which
requires the employer to establish that no qualified Americans or
permanent residents are available for the particular post, the L-1 visa
has no such requirement.

Given the level of opposition, the US Immigration and Naturalization
Services is reviewing the entire L-1 programme.

More importantly, it will look into the issue of whether companies are
using L-1 to evade the H-1B programme.

For Indian IT companies, the bad news comes in the form of the
composition of the immigration subcommittee in the Congress. The
subcommittee may be chaired by Representative John Hostettler, who has
a reputation of favouring significant restrictions on new immigration.

Other members of the subcommittee include Representative Lamar Smith
and Representative Elton Galleghy, none of whom have a reputation of
being pro-immigrant. In the Senate too, the immigration subcommittee
will be headed by Senator Saxby Chambliss, who is thought of highly by
advocacy groups calling for restrictions on immigration.

The L-1 visa was created by an act of the US Congress in 1970. The
specific objective of this non-immigrant visa was to make it simpler
for large international companies to transfer foreign personnel to the
US.

The L-1 visa allows transfer of key employees, generally executives or
managers, from a foreign corporation to a US branch, parent/ subsidiary
or affiliated entity.

Help to Keep ZaZona.com Online

Donate to the Cause at
http://www.zazona.com/Donations.htm
To Subscribe or Unsubcribe send an email to

Back to archives