According to the New York times, a coalition of business and education groups, called Compete America, is renewing the initiative to persuade Congress to raise the number of H-1B visa numbers and employment-based green cards for skilled foreign workers to enter the United States this year.There is a current cap of 65,000 H-1B visas per year with an additional 20,000 for those aliens with an advance degree from an American institution. It is a top priority of technology companies to increase the H-1B and immigrant visa numbers of skilled workers, since without them they cannot grow and remain competitive. Microsoft’s Bill Gates is one of many technology executives advocates of increased flexibility to hire educated foreign workers like engineers and scientists.
