NEWS CONTACTS: Eric Thomas (202) 822-9491 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 4, 2004

H-1B Cap Hit on Day One of New Fiscal Year

Compete America Urges Congress to Enact Immediate Remedy

Washington, D.C. – On Friday, October 1, 2004, U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services announced that it had received enough H-1B visa petitions to meet the congressionally-mandated cap for fiscal year 2005.  October 1 is the first day of FY 2005, which means U.S. businesses, research and educational institutions, and medical facilities will have no further ability to hire highly educated foreign nationals for one full year.  This employment ban even includes foreign students receiving advanced degrees from U.S. colleges and universities.

“This is the worst case scenario.  The U.S. economy has benefited greatly from the contributions of highly educated professionals who have come here to study, live and work.  The arbitrary cap on H-1B visas is counterproductive and if not remedied, will undoubtedly harm America’s long-term competitiveness,” said Sandra Boyd, National Association of Manufacturers Human Resources Policy Vice President and Compete America Chair.

Compete America is strongly advocating that foreign students receiving Masters and PhDs from U.S. universities be exempted from the current H-1B cap.  In many critical disciplines – including math, science and engineering – over 50 percent of the Masters and PhDs awarded by U.S. universities go to foreign nationals.

“Congress has the ability to enact a remedy this year.  Exempting foreign students with advanced degrees from U.S. universities from the employment ban is a logical and immediate remedy and we urge them to move forward without further delay,” Boyd concluded.

Compete America (www.competeamerica.org) is a coalition of more than 200 corporations, universities, research institutions and trade associations concerned about legal, employment-based immigration and committed to ensuring that the United States has the highly educated workforce necessary to ensure continued innovation, job creation and leadership in a worldwide economy.

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