A Rush for Work Visas Even as Demand Dips

Partly because of the backlog from last year, the H-1B visas requests will still not fill all the positions open. Our country is lacking in highly educated and skilled workers in certain industries and we need these foreign workers, even in the present economy. - - Donna Poisl

By JULIA PRESTON

The yearly scramble by employers for temporary visas for foreign scientists and technology engineers started on Wednesday, with immigration authorities expecting fewer new petitions this year because of the recession and because of new restrictions on financial companies that received emergency federal aid.

For five business days beginning Wednesday, Citizenship and Immigration Services will accept petitions for the temporary visas known as H-1B for the 2010 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. In recent years, visa limits were reached in the first days of the application period.

Over the weekend, employers like Microsoft and Cisco Systems rushed to send petitions by express mail and courier services so they would reach the agency when it opened Wednesday.
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