The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCE OF NEW VISA FEES” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1026-E1027 on June 2, 2011.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCE OF NEW VISA FEES
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HON. STEVEN R. ROTHMAN
of new jersey
in the house of representatives
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Mr. ROTHMAN of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise to bring to your attention an unintended consequence brought on when we enacted last year's emergency supplemental appropriations bill to fund additional border resources--H.R. 6080, the Emergency Border Security Supplemental Appropriations Act.
This bill was fully paid for by imposing additional fees for new H-1B and L-1 visas on a select group of companies. Specifically, the companies impacted are those with more than 50 employees, and with a US workforce in which more than 50% are on a professional temporary visa--
basically the H-1B and L-1 visas. While, I applaud the intent of this provision to incentivize job creation at home, I would like to express my concern about the implementation of the additional visa fees.
These fees were meant to be targeted at companies who utilize H-1B and L-1 visas at very high levels for the purpose of building their employees' proficiencies in IT, so that they can take this knowledge and the work back to their home countries. It turns out however, that some US companies are being impacted by these fee increases because many of their professionals are stuck in green card backlogs and in the meantime remain in temporary visa status.
In his remarks at the time of Senate passage of H.R. 6080, Senator Charles Schumer commented that, when the H-1B visa program is used as a stepping-stone for skilled immigrants to obtain permanent resident status, it is ``a good program for everyone involved. It is good for the company. It is good for the worker. And it is good for the American people who benefit from the products and jobs created by the innovation of the H-1B visa holder.''
I agree with Senator Schumer's remarks, and encourage my colleagues to work with me on a technical fix that would ensure that the implementation of this bill is consistent with these policy goals. The clearest way to achieve these goals would be to exempt from the so-
called ``50/50'' calculation any H-1B or L-1 worker who has sought to acquire permanent residence by taking steps to file or is the beneficiary of a pending or approved application for alien employment certification with the Department of Labor, or a pending or approved immigrant petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Those H-1B and L-1 workers are best defined as `intending immigrants,' as they relinquish their nonimmigrant intent when their employers pursue a Green Card application on their behalf.
We should not punish companies that are doing the right thing by investing considerable resources to sponsor professionals for permanent resident visas. They are building a highly skilled workforce in the US within technical specialties in which few American workers with applicable skills exist. This is something we need to do if we are going to grow out of our current economic difficulties.
I suggested to the Secretary of Homeland Security that she consider making the technical fix as part of regulatory guidance on this new fee. The Department later informed me that such a fix required congressional action.
I raise this issue Mr. Speaker, because it is my hope that we can work with our colleagues in the Senate to ensure that companies that are trying to do the right thing are not unintentionally hurt by this provision. Since this unintended consequence was caused by a provision in an appropriations bill, I hope that we can make the necessary technical fix on an appropriations bill at the appropriate time.
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