SENATE VOTES TO UP H-1B VISA CAP

The high-tech industry got a much-needed shot in the arm last week when the Senate voted to raise the annual cap on the number of skilled foreign workers permitted to enter and work in the United States.

The Senate voted 96-1 to increase the number of foreign workers allowed under the H-1B visa program to 195,000 per year over the next three years from 115,000 this year. H-1B visas let workers stay in the country for at least six years.

In a separate vote, the House also supported the program, leading some to believe that its success stems from election-year politics. The high-tech industry has donated more than $22 million to political parties this year.

The 115,000 quota on H-1B visas for fiscal year 2000, which started in October 1999, was met last March.

A study released earlier this year by the Information Technology Association of America projects the demand for IT workers to be 1.6 million over the next 12 months. It estimates that nearly 850,000 of these jobs will remain vacant.