Number: HARD-001 Description: What kind of legislation has been considered and adopted regarding the H1B Visa? Narrative: Congressional and media discussion, proposals, legislation and reaction regarding the H1B Visa are on topic (including detailed discussions of things like, e.g., raising the cap on the number of H1B visas for a particular year). General discussion of foreign workers in the US, broader INS regulations and other visa types (e.g., student visas) are off topic. item=purpose, value=Details item=genre, value=Overview item=granularity, value=Document item=familiarity, value=3 From Computer World "ABCs & H-1Bs: Living with the new H-1B visa regulations -- in 1999" By JULIA KING MARCH 08, 1999 http://www.computerworld.com/news/1999/story/0,11280,34799,00.html A company must sponsor a particular foreign worker for an H-1B visa. It can't apply for a visa without a specific worker in mind. This year, in addition to raising the cap on visas, Congress also raised their cost significantly. Subsequent to the congressional ruling, known as the Anticompetitive Workforce Improvement Act of 1998, the U.S. Department of Labor also applied a number of new, more stringent H-1B qualifications. These include requiring employers to show that no U.S. worker is available to fill positions for which they want to hire foreign nationals. Congress instituted a $500 fee when it raised the H-1B cap last summer. The money is placed in a fund to finance training programs for American workers. Additionally, employers pay a $110 filing fee plus attorneys' costs. All told, companies estimate the cost of obtaining an H-1B visa under the new regulations will range from $1,300 to $2,500, including attorneys' fees. Virtually every kind of company, from retailers to manufacturers, has applied for and obtained H-1B visas for foreign-born IT workers. During the past few years, however, IT consulting and staffing firms have become particularly dependent on H-1B workers.