H-1B Visa Petitions for 2002

Date: Wednesday, June 19, 2002 9:07 AM

*** H-1B NEWSLETTER ***

Get the Facts on H-1B at
www.ZaZona.com

I just talked to the ETA office of the Dept. of Labor in Washington DC.
I
learned that they are still receiving huge numbers of Labor Condition
Applications but there is a noticable drop from the boom years of
2000-2001.

Here are the numbers of LCAs submitted

Year # of LCAs # of Aliens (*calculated)
2000 380,000 1,100,000
2001 380,000 1,100,000
2002 280,000 868,000 (**projected)

* The "# of aliens" is based on historical averages that I have
calculated
from my online LCA Database www.ZaZona.com/LCA-data On the average, each
LCA
asks for 3.1 workers.

** The 280,000 figure is projected by the DOL. They are basing this
number
on how many LCAs they have received so far. This number could go up or
down
considerably.

If the DOL's projections are correct for 2002 then 232,000 less H-1Bs
will
be hired than in the previous two years. You may be shocked to see how
large
the numbers of aliens are since the limit is 195,000 per year. Here are
a
few of the reasons that the number of aliens is so much higher than the
yearly limit:

- Companies are banking. When companies "bank LCAs" they apply for more
H-1Bs than they will probably need. They like to have a cushion so that
they
can have extra visas approved if they have suddenly need more workers.

- H-1Bs are applying for a second 3 year visa extension or a 7th year
extension. These requests are exempted from the yearly limit but the
still
have to submit an LCA.

- Some employers are exempted so any H-1Bs they hire don't count towards
the
yearly limit. Employers that are exempted include universities, schools,
government research labs, government workers, and some categories of
physicians.

Conclusion:
The press and the ITAA seem to making a big deal out of the fact that
less
H-1Bs are being hired in 2002. This reduction in H-1B visas is somehow
supposed to prove that H-1Bs are only used when companies can't find
American workers.

While it does seem that less H-Bs are being hired there is no reason to
rejoice. H-1Bs are still coming to the US to work in record numbers and
they
are still taking jobs that unemployed Americans need. H-1B hiring is
down
because hiring in general is down. Companies still covet the cheap young
blood of these indentured workers and will accelerate their hiring when
the
economy picks up. I suspect that the ratio of H-1Bs to American workers
is
increasing and that trend will not stop.

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