US Immigration News

At a meeting in May at Stanford Law School, academics, executives, and lawyers were asked by US Federal chief technology officer Aneesh Chopra and USCIS director Alejandro Mayorkas what they could do to help Silicon Valley; The leading hub for high-tech innovation and development in the United states . The overwhelming answer was to ask for changes to the immigration regulations to enable high tech companies to hire top talent from around the world.

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) was created after the September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks as part of a strategy to improve security in the US. As the country nears the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks, USCIS director Alejandro Mayorkas has detailed the progress his department has made in implementing recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission Report of 24 July 2004.

The US government has outlined a series of "policy, operational, and outreach efforts" which it hopes will drive economic growth and stimulate investment by encouraging foreign entrepreneurs to immigrate to the United States.

The new initiatives were announced by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) director Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.

"The United States has a long, rich history of welcoming innovative entrepreneurs and skilled workers into our country," Mayorkas said on his blog.

The Senate Judiciary Committee's immigration subcommittee is attempting to push through legislation that would expand the H-1B visa system and grant green card work permits to foreign students who graduate from US universities with a science, maths, or technology degree.

Approximately 20,500 United States H-1B non-immigrant visa applications have been lodged as of 15 July 2011, leaving an estimated 44,500 regular H-1B visas available for Fiscal Year 2012.

An additional 20,000 H-1B visas are made available each year for people who hold a Masters degree or higher. 12,800 have already been lodged during FY 2012, leaving 7,200 available.

A new report by Fitch Ratings states that the US resources industry which includes the mining and natural gas sectors, and the tech industry are facing a serious shortage of skilled workers. Experts say that skilled immigration could deal with this labor shortfall.