US tech firms look abroad for engineers (BBC) {H1-B visas -- who sponsors them?}
By Kim Gittleson
BBC reporter, New York
As Secretary of State John Kerry visits India this week for the US-India Strategic Dialogue, a hot topic for debate will be just how many H1-B visas should be issued in the United States each year - and what sort of process employers should go through to fill their technology talent needs.
Currently, employers must sponsor foreign workers for the H1-B lottery, which often costs several thousand dollars and doesn't come with a guarantee that the employee will be selected.
There are 65,000 H1-B visas for foreign workers each year, with an additional 20,000 offered to graduate degree holders.
Silicon Valley has long argued that the cap on visas is too low and that by denying talented foreign workers visas, the "innovation economy" that has led to booming IT industries in areas such as California and New York will shrivel up.
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However, critics of the proposed expansion argue that it's not the future Facebooks of the world that are in desperate need of more H1-B visas but rather large outsourcing firms like iGate Technologies and Cognizant that benefit most from the programme.
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Top H1-B Employers, 2013
iGate Technologies
24,574
Cognizant Technology Solutions
24,488
Syntel
19,601
Tata Consultancy Services
15,514
Infosys
15,485
Deloitte Consulting
15,093
PricewaterhouseCoopers
12,007
Wipro
11,685
Mphasis
7,431
Accenture
5,771
Source: Office of Foreign Labor Certification
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more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23010391
Verrrrrry interesting ....
