Bipartisan H-1B Bill
Posted Mar 25, 2000

The Law Office of Sheela Murthy sent out a Newsflash summarizing the INS announcement in the Federal Register on March 21, 2000, regarding the H1B cap. In the meantime, we have a bipartisan Bill introduced in Congress, for which the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has given its qualified support, described below.

The Drier-Lofgren Bipartisan Bill, H.R. 3983 was introduced by Representatives David Dreier (R-CA) and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), along with a bipartisan group of 15 lawmakers in mid- March 2000. The Bipartisan Bill would temporarily increase, for three fiscal years, the cap on the number of H-1Bs available to highly educated foreign professionals who work for U.S. companies, universities, and research institutions.  However, the Bill would also increase the H-1B "training fees" paid by employers from $500 to $1,000 per H1B Petition.

AILA endorses the proposed legislation because it addresses certain important issues and provides the following benefits:

• a short term solution to the nation’s shortage of skilled professional workers;
• expanding existing educational programs benefiting low-income students;
• providing scholarships in math and science;
• encouraging math, science, and computer teachers to stay in our schools;
• increasing funds for training and retraining; and
• alleviating the harm caused by bureaucratic delays of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and the Department of Labor, by allowing certain H-1B holders who have applied for permanent resident status to stay here while their green card cases are pending with INS. 

Despite its endorsement of the bill, AILA has expressed serious concerns about the 100% increase in fees. AILA believes that this dramatic increase would prevent many small businesses, non-profit organizations and government agencies from using the H-1B program.