Eric Thomas or Frances Cox 202-822-9491 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Nov.8, 2007

Compete America Applauds Senators for Urging Administration to Extend Training Program for Foreign-Born Students in the United States

Bipartisan Group of Senators Say Extension Would Enable U.S. Employers to Retain Top Talent Graduating from U.S. Universities

Washington D.C. – Compete America today applauded a bipartisan group of Senators for calling on Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to extend the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program for foreign-born students in the United States from 12 to 29 months.  The extension would help U.S. employers retain highly educated foreign-born graduates of U.S universities for whom H-1B visas are not immediately available.

In their letter – which was spearheaded by Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and signed by Senators Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Robert Bennett (R-UT), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Susan Collins (R-ME), John Cornyn (R-TX), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Daniel Inouye (D-HI), John Kerry (D-MA), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Patty Murray (D-WA), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Gordon Smith (R-OR) and George Voinovich (R-OH) – they state:

“We are concerned that the shortage of H-1B visas for professional workers threatens America’s economic competitiveness.  The long-term solution to this problem must come from Congress, and we are committed to promoting meaningful legislative remedies including increasing the number of H-1B and employment based visas and improving administration and enforcement of visa programs.  But in the interim, DHS has ample authority to effect a regulatory change augmenting the OPT period from twelve to twenty-nine months.  This extension would enable U.S. employers to retain at a critical juncture highly skilled foreign graduates for whom H-1B visas are not immediately available.”

The H-1B visa shortage came to a head this year when the fiscal year (FY) 2008 65,000 cap was exhausted in April on the first very day applications were accepted.  This was particularly significant for foreign students because their 12-months of OPT following graduation would expire for most in May or June of 2008, leaving a gap of several months before they may be employed again – or even remain in the United States – when FY 2009 begins on October 1, 2008.  This effectively means that the United States is training highly educated workers and then sending them abroad to compete against us.  The Senators’ call for an extension of OPT would help alleviate the problem.

For a complete copy of the letter, click here.  For more information on how highly educated immigration benefits America, please visit www.competeamerica.org. 

Compete America (www.competeamerica.org) is a coalition of corporations, educators, 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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