美国为85,000名技术工人进行签证抽签

 美国公民及移民服务局表示，美国签证项目在申请期开始一周后，于周日进行了抽签，为高技能工人提供了 85,000 个名额，这表明企业对经济有足够的信心，可以雇用更多的外国工人。

美国移民局上周收到约 124,000 份 H-1B 申请（其中包括为美国大学高级学位持有者提交的申请）后，通过抽签方式批准了该名额的申请。 美国移民局于一周前（即 1 月 XNUMX 日）开始接受签证申请，五天后因需求量大而停止接受。 The last time the USCIS used a lottery this quickly to grant H-1B visas, a type companies must initiate, was in 2008, before the economic crisis hit.

In April that year, when unemployment was around 5 percent, it received 163,000 petitions in five days. Now the economy seems to be improving, with the unemployment rate nudging down to 7.6 percent last month according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as wages edge up. The cap includes 65,000 high-skilled workers, plus a separate H-1B allocation of 20,000 masters and PhD graduates from U.S. universities. The actual granting of visas is made by the State Department, the final step for any H-1B applicant. Petitioners are being notified by U.S. mail if they have won a slot, USCIS said. Those who have not will receive their petitions in the mail, along with their refunded filing fees. The H-1B is a nonimmigrant visa in the United States that allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations.

The duration of stay is three years, extendable to six years. U.S. companies, particularly in technology, say they need the visas to fill vacant positions. But some worker-advocacy groups counter that the companies are using the visa program to hire cheaper foreign labor. While the official quota is 65,000, the actual number of people who enter the United States on H-1Bs is higher because workers at universities and some other workplaces do not count toward the limit. The USCIS is still accepting petitions for those exempted categories of worker, it said. Last year, the government issued 129,000 H-1B visas.

Indian nationals received the largest number. U.S. Congress is currently working on immigration reform legislation. Among the proposals is a revamp of the H-1B program that could raise the quota based on demand and eliminate the lottery. 莎拉·麦克布莱德（Sarah McBride） 2013 年 4 月 8 日