Among the changes it is rallying for include doubling the limit of visas granted per year from 140,000 to 280,000.
The American Chambers of Commerce is ramping up efforts to change the issuance of H-1B visas.
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Reason Behind Increasing Quota
Among the changes it is rallying for include doubling the limit of visas granted per year from 140,000 to 280,000.
This is to increase the supply of skilled and professional workforce which is facing a shortage in the US.
The H-1B visa is an employment-based non-immigrant visa granted to individuals from a different country to fill a position requiring theoretical or technical expertise in the US.
Tech firms are dependent on these visas as they hire tens of thousands of employees each year especially from India and China
The America Works campaign launched by the trade body seeks to increase the H-1B visa quota which is presently 65,000 and 20,000 is the quota for education purposes.
US Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Suzanne Clark stated that the US is on the verge of making a comeback which could be held back by skilled worker shortage.
Campaign Demands Other Reforms
Other changes the campaign wants include doubling the quota for H-2B visas as well as adding reforms to the immigration systems to assist job creators in fulfilling demand.
It also wants more federal investments in job education and training as well as increasing working parents’ access to childcare.
Clark said that workers need to be trained on skills and remove obstacles in the way of Americans regarding employment.
High demand jobs should invite the best people for the job no matter from which country.
Easing The Application Process For Foreign Immigrants
The Chambers called for elimination of per-country caps which are biased against applicants from certain countries.
These applicants are made to wait longer which increases the backlog in the system which could be mended by expanding the yearly quota.
The Biden administration has also been requested to ease the job prospects of international students in US universities via green cards upon graduation.
Pro-Business Moves
This will also create opportunities for entrepreneurs to achieve permanent resident status to scale their business in the States.
The Chambers further said that they have urged the govt to put back in place visa processing in global consulates which would aid companies to acquire and keep the workers they need without any processing-led disruptions.
In a statement, it said that it wishes to “create a new, geographically targeted visa programme, along the lines of the Heartland Visa proposal, that will drive economic and population growth into American communities struggling with the serious economic and social problems caused by significant population loss”.
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