Why we need H-1B; Because of NCAA

There is a quota of 65,000 for regular H-1B and 20,000 for holders of Master's Degree or Higher in a fiscal year. This year the USCIS has received appx 5,900 H-1B petitions counting toward the 65,000 cap, and approximately 4,500 petitions toward the 20,000 cap exemption for individuals with advanced degrees so far.

But the March Madness which recently ended, embodies why we need H-1Bs. Our colleges spend way more on sports than on education. I had not heard of Butler until last year. And most people supported Butler over Duke. Cinderalla team? Sure. But we did not know about the existence of this educational institution unless there was NCAA Basketball. Same with VCU this year. There is nothing wrong with cheering for the underdog, until you realize that these are actually educational institutions. And the Coach at Butler or VCU gets paid far higher than any professor or researcher in those institutions.

In other countries there are no colege sports. College sports are not big businesses. Instead the money goes towards education. Thus we have serious, and more productive students who in turn make better workers, and hence the H-1B program.

Note to Butler, You had two turns, and still could not win. Next year funnell more money into research, so that your US Nwes and World Report ranking rises.

For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee

Prevailing Wage and H-1B

The Department of Labor (DOL) just penalized a Company in Atlanta (Smartsoft International Inc) one million dollars for not paying 135 of its H-1B employees the prevailing wage. In this blog I am NOT defending Smartsoft. If they promised the DOL that they would pay a certain amount to their employees, they should do it. And many Indian run companies operate as they do in India, abusing employees. They forget that employees here have recourse that they would not in India.

However this blog is about fairness where prevailing wage is concerned on the part of the DOL. They just came out with a new prevailing wage system, where most wages are higher than the previous prevailing wage. We are in the midst of a recession, the rate of employment now is higher than it has been in at least a decade. Soon deflation is going to be the reality in the USA, but not in the world of the DOL's Prevailing Wage. Thus if Smartsoft was paying its H-1B workers the same as their other US Citizen workers,(and I don't know if they were or not) would that be a crime? After all isn't Prevailing Wage the Wage that is "prevalent" at a particular place? And why would an employer pay more when there are 50 people who will do the same job for less?

I think the US has realized that they have a cash cow in employment based immigration. H-1B and L-1 fees for certain Companies (mainly Indian Computer based companies) were raised to pay for US border security. Companies don't have compelling stories, and the democrats don't like them. But these small companies will simply outsource the jobs to India. And can the US afford a retaliatory price increase if the Indian Government wishes to implement that to secure its borders as well?

For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee

Chop Shops and Job Shops the four letter H-1B words

The Senate passed a $600 million border security bill last Thursday, and tucked inside that bill was a provision that would raise the H-1B filing fees. For companies which employs more than 50% of its employees on H-1B, the filing fees for each application would be $4820/- (currently it is $2320/). The bill is now being debated in the House and if passed, will head to President for signature.

This would impact big Indian IT companies like Infosys, but not the US companies like Microsoft or Google. This is of course discriminatory. Borrowing a word that has been used by the Citizenship and Immigration Service (CIS) for Indian IT firms, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) called Infosys a "chop Shop." The CIS seems convinced that all Indian IT firms are filing "false petitions." The Government of India has protested this. The US needs India in the war against Al Qaeda and to keep China in check. Can it afford a bad relationship with any of the BRIC nations?


The President and his party in their socialist type agenda want to "preserve" US jobs. Getting rid of the free market economy in this deep recession will only hurt the US economy more. Infosys and other companies are already paying $2320/- per H-1B beneficiary. $1500/- of that is supposed to educate the US public. I have yet to see an education program funded by that money. The Companies will simply cease to do business in the US. And yes, today the US market is the biggest. But Asia and the BRIC countries are coming up , and together with Europe and Canada, will have more clout than the US.

The history of Immigration Law is ripe with untold discrimination against "colored people". It is time to end this discrimination. However I cannot forget that Nancy Polosi had once said that if she gave amnesty to the illegal immigrants, she would not make them pay. She would raise the fee on H-1B, because these "legal"employers had the money to pay, which the illegal immigrants did not. So my hopes for the House not passing this bill is slim indeed.

The new N word for Indian Companies have indeed become "job shop" or "chop shop" and this time its our Government who is using these words.

For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee

Obama, Secrecy and Rule of Law in the H-1B visa

The Obama Government ran on a promise to make Government more transparent, more accountable and promised to restore the Rule of Law so blatantly flouted by the previous administration. Yet,  in most immigration cases, and certainly in the H-1B context, all those principles are simply baseless and unfulfilled campaign promises.

AILA has just filed a lawsuit against USCIS on the issue of transparency. The administration beginning last summer conducted  hundreds of raids on H-1B sponsoring businesses. Yet the rules and guidance of this whole process is guarded in secrecy. Requests by AILA to divulge this review process under the Freedom of Information Act were denied.

These are PROFESSIONAL employees--- Computer professionals, Engineers, Doctors, teachers. The Government shows up at their Company door step, demand to see their records, with no notice, and many times with no uniform procedure. The Officers ask to see anything and everything. The businesses are all sizes, but all professional service providers.

In a separate class action lawsuit the USCIS is being challenged on the January 08, 2010 memo,  which "created" additional requirements in respect of direct control of employee by the employer.  This has virtually eliminated the computer consulting business from sponsoring H-1B visa holders. This requirement was no where in the plain language of the H-1B law.  Also the the senator who introduced the H-1B legislation  in the Congress  verified that this was Never Congressional intent.  Moreover an agency cannot rulemake without  publishing a notice and giving the public a chance to comment. No such notice and comment was done for this memo. This clearly violates the Rule of Law that Obama championed. In terms of immigration law the old Government's policies are not only being followed, but in many instances further deviating from the Rule of Law.


For more information contact http://www.visatous.com"> Houston Immigration Lawyer or http://www.visatous.com">Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee