H-1B visas gone; few options left

Computerworld - Unless the federal government decides to raise this year's cap on H-1B visas, employers will be left with only a few alternative means of hiring overseas labor, none of which is ideal.
These alternatives - which include hiring overseas employees to work in foreign offices and raiding other companies for H-1B staff - are limited to workers in a particular region or to those who have fulfilled certain conditions of employment. But many employers are under increasing pressure to find any means of hiring technical talent. The nation's unemployment rate hit a 30-year low last month of 3.9%. Moreover, as many as 800,000 high-tech positions will go unfilled over the next 12 months, according to a recent study from the Information Technology Association of America.
The labor shortage extends to international workers. Employers exhausted the H-1B limits by March 21, and many are pinning their hopes on pending legislation that would lift the H-1B visa cap.
The H-1B quota is set at 115,000 for the federal government's current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, and 107,000 for fiscal 2001. More than half of these visas are granted to systems analysts and programmers, according to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).
Two pending bills seek to raise the cap to roughly 200,000 over the next three years, while one proposes lifting the cap altogether. Though most observers expect a law to raise the H-1B cap, not everyone thinks the government will do so this fiscal year.
Like many employers, KPMG Consulting Inc. in New York relies on the H-1B visa to bridge its labor shortage by enabling foreign workers with technology skills to work in the U.S. for up to six years. The company filed 150 H-1B petitions this year on behalf of technical consultants with systems integration skills, said Sean Huurman, the firm's national director for recruiting.
In April, soon after the INS stopped accepting new H-1B petitions for this year, the company recruited three additional foreign nationals, said Huurman. But these employees work in their native countries, so they don't require visas.
KPMG may file for H-1B visas on behalf of these employees in October, when the INS begins accepting new petitions for fiscal 2001. Alternatively, the company can apply for L-1, or transfer, visas down the road. The cap-free L-1 visa allows multinationals to transfer overseas employees to work in the U.S., but only after they have worked for the company for at least one year.
The L-1 visa option is no panacea. Huurman said it's costly for