Isnt the first five day lottery only in case of Masters quota? I think there is some miss interpreteation here? They are going to observe masters h1b for first 5 days to decide weather to go for lotter?

Illegal Aliens and Immigration is NOT the same thing. Immigrant is a legal status granted by a sovereign country. We have to many folks who do not know and are ignorant or outright deceivers, confusing illegal alien workers calling them illegal immigrants with immigrants. Criminals did NOT build America; Citizens and LEGAL immigrants built it. American’s want an end to anarchy! This is NOT a Democrat, Republican, Independent issue. It's an American Issue.

Illegal aliens are criminals, those who hire them are criminals and those who aid-and-abet them are criminals.

Illegal aliens in America have NO rights. We are required by law to arrest and prosecute, deport them. (Title 8 U.S. Code) To report illegal aliens call the DHS National Hotline 1 866 DHS 2ICE. (1-866-347-2523)

No, matter your political party affiliation, and setting aside your thoughts on issues. We all need to remember what it is to be an American Citizen. We need to make sure our elected representatives obey their Oath of Office and keep their Oath of Allegiance. See http://tinyurl.com/2znnvl Know whom you are voting for.

The ludicrous H-1B quota should simply disappear. Let the market govern the numbers. Why do we live in a time where there is so much hatred generated against anybody who isn't a white-anglo-saxon-protestant? Isolationism will hurt our competitive edge for generations to come.
Re: H-1B: they will monitor master's filings for the first 5 days to determine whether to hold the lottery. Not sure about general quota which will most likely be overbooked almost immediately.
Congress should listen to Gates, not nazis such as Tancredo, Dobbs, Senator Sessions, and other mistakes of nature.

It makes no difference whatsoever. Unless the person filling for you is completely clueless about the reality of the quota, they will send the documents out on the 31th of March. The extra 3 days means nothing, but that a few more applications will get in - probably those of people who's letters did not reach in time for whatever reason. That's all.

Cohen suggested that the H-1b quota should disappear and "let the market govern the numbers."

Why stop there? Why not get rid of the "lucicrous" cap of 1 million immigrants in general? Let anyone come who "wants to work."

Within 5 years it's conceivable that 1/2 of Mexico, India, and China - well over a billion people - would flood into the USA.

Certainly this would put downward pressure on wages, making the USA more "globally competitive." I suspect many of these people would gladly work in fast food and retail for $2 per hour. They would pay no income tax and place a huge burden on schools and social services.

The point is the Cohen fails to show how a "market cap" (eg, unlimited migration) would necessarily be beneficial to American workers.

usualy kimberry fudge
1 million green cards are NOT for employable workers. employment based green cards are only 140,000 AND that INCLUDES the workers families. so BARELY 60,000 WORKERS get green cards in a year. and these are productive people that help build this nation. most of the 1 million is family sponsorship and refugees. is PG taking on family based green cards now? if so have the guts to say it. if not, talk about relevant things and stop your fudging. and get a job please, your days are spent on every blog and site that mentions immigration. who is paying for this?

I don't know how many people are aware of this, but most of the H-1B visas approved are not used. I know people in India working for the infamous (notorious) Infosys, Wipro etc. who have approved H-1bs from last year and never used it to come here. If I need to spell out the result of such wastage, foreign students (not just Indians) from American Universities are sent back after their education because they miss out on the cap.

This is the reality. The 65000 cap is over in a day. But most of it is not used. So, I'm not sure I buy into the argument that American work force is displaced by 65000 H-1b workers.

Here is New England, Lonza are desperate to fill positions in process development and R&D. There are more positions than can be filled by Americans and no work permits for qualified foreigners.

This sort of blanket H-1B policy is being counter-productive to fields other than IT.

I actually think the more important change will be the tough new rule on companies filing more than one application for the same person. Some firms have made a practice of legally filing multiple petitions for the same person. They have done this by making the petitions for different positions with slightly different job descriptions. That practice is now barred. I have not seen data on how widespread the practice is, but many believe that this will cause the applications selected this year to be from many more companies.

I agree with Deepak. On a rough estimate, at least 30% of H1B visas issues to companies like Infosys and Wipro do not get used that same year.

Yes, Having worked with an Indian software company, I've seen first hand how this system works. As soon as an employee completes one year with the organization, s/he gets their visa processed. The documents are filled out as early as dec of the previous year. Imagine a company with 70,000 employees which files for 10,000 applications. It merely gets a foothold with the volume principle. their mantra is flood the uscis with applications, the more that gets in, the better for the company. This is the basis for the company to bargain with clients and get them to shell more on projects. Once 6,000 candidates get their visas in october, hardly 2,000 use it and come onsite. The rest fall in the bargaining chip category for future projects! Appalling but true. This is just one company that I worked in.. Imagine 5-6 companies doing the same thing.. 65,000 just gets washed away by these mammoths...

My understanding of the H1B visa was the to get one you had to have an actual job. How can a company (even a foreign one) apply for a visa for a particular person for a particular job and then not use it?

Jim T.

What you are saying is true for people who are in the US. The cases that I talk about are for people who work for IT companies in India on a project for an American client. So the visas are applied for onshore work in America for those same client. The people for whom visas are approved, do not use it and stay off-shore in India.

The problem I have with anything coming out of Greg Siskind's mouth is that you never know if it is just another part of their misinformation campaign or not. Siskind is after all running one of the largest immigration law firms in the nation - and he has a long history of advocating in favor of the current H-1b program. When asked directly, he believes that no changes are required.

Siskind has never publicly claimed problems with the H-1b program in terms of fraud or abuse. He paints the program with a variety of rosey colors.

If Siskind is right and that not allowing companies to stack the cards will dramatically shift the allocation, that also means that Siskind has withheld his knowledge of problems with the program for years. The USCIS reported that just 500 duplicate applications were submitted last year. Does Siskind know otherwise?

What other information is Siskind and other members or the ILW withholding? Why don't they come clean on how the H-1b program is primarily a tool used to exploit people under the false pretense of shortages?

Why doesn't Siskind stand up for his clients on the H-1b program who can't change jobs because they will be sent to the back of the green card application line? It makes me question who the clients of Siskind are - immigrants or corporations?

VisaNow has at long last come publicly stating issues of fraud in the guest worker programs.

Siskind and his band of corporate immigration lawyers won't do such a thing because they have no such loyalties to immigrants. Their loyalty is to the business of moving human capital from point A to point B. They consider us commodities and objects that can be traded like any other commodity.

There will be a day that people like him are finally taken to task by the media. How long shall I hold my breath Ephraim?