Job visa policies draining workers -
Green card, red tape: Visa program under fire for labor drain

Glyn Heatley's American dream was almost within reach. He had just bought a new car, had been dating a Dallas schoolteacher and was working as a high-tech consultant at Akili.

But the dream turned out to be hollow: He wasn't an American and can't become one for years.

Heatley, who returned to his native England this spring when his visa ran out, is one of thousands of foreign workers in line to become Americans who have run up against bureaucratic roadblocks.

''For as much as the States talk about equal opportunity and the American Dream, the reality is quite different,'' he said in a telephone interview from London.

CAUGHT IN A POLITICAL WEB

The visa program that allowed Heatley to work in the United States is under attack because it forces thousands of qualified workers to leave the country each year. A diverse collection of foreign workers' groups, corporations and American labor groups is calling for an overhaul of the system.

The history of U.S. immigration is littered with personal stories like Heatley's - people whose lives were caught in the political and economic tides that shaped the policies of who's allowed in and who isn't. The current controversy adds a unique dimension. Never before has one industry - in this case the high-tech field that's driving the nation's prosperity - molded the debate because of its need for skilled workers.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service now offers 115,000 work visas known as the H-1Bs, which are good for six years. The visa has become particularly popular with high-tech companies. But when the six years are up, the visa holders - many of whom first came to the United States to study - have to return home unless their employers have secured them a permanent resident visa, popularly known as the green card.

HARD TO GET, KEEP

But getting a green card has become increasingly difficult. The INS has a backlog of more than 1 million applications, up from 120,353 in 1992. In some parts of the country, the green card process can take longer than the six years allowed under the H-1B visa. And most employers wait about two years to start the application process because they want to be sure the employee is worth the effort.

Heatley and Akili applied for his green card two years ago. But his H-1B visa expired in March while the application was pending, and he was forced to leave. He's still an Akili employee, however. The company set up Heatley in a new London office, which operates under the name Root 7. He now supervises 10 employees there.

LOSING THE QUALIFIED

Shiek Shah, Akili's co-chief executive, said many foreign workers have been in the United States more than 10 years, including time in college, when their H-1Bs finally run out. When they leave, America loses valuable skills, he said.

''If you find good people, you don't want to lose them,'' said Shah, a Kenyan immigrant.

He warned that the United States will lose out if enough companies follow the example Akili set with Heatley. ''We figure out a way to start shipping work over there; and when that happens, you lose revenues in this country,'' Shah said.

POSSIBLE LEGISLATION Congress is considering several bills that would increase the number of H-1B visas granted each year. But immigration experts say that will only increase the INS green card backlog.

Lindsay Lowell, director of research at Georgetown University's Institute for the Study of International Migration, estimates that about two-thirds of H-1B holders intend to become permanent residents.

''We are creating a system with layers and layers of transition,'' Lowell said. ''We could (soon) have a population of half a million to a million people taking years to transition to citizenship.''

EQUAL RIGHTS

Historically, immigrants have been admitted to the United States on a ''citizenship track'' that was designed to handle the transition from visa to green card. In its original form, however, the H-1B visa required applicants to disavow citizenship. Dropping that requirement in the early 1990s led to a flood of green card applications.

''We have this netherworld of people who don't have full rights,'' Lowell said.

He said Congress has refused to reform the system because immigration policy is fraught with emotion and involves too many vested interests.

Two of three H-1B bills pending in Congress provide some relief for workers awaiting green cards. The bills allow H-1B visas to be extended until the green card applications are processed. Rep. Lamar Smith, a Republican from San Antonio, has introduced his own bill to reform the system, but it stresses training for U.S. workers over relaxing immigration rules.

A TEMPORARY VISA

''H-1B visas for foreign workers are temporary,'' he said in a written statement in response to questions. ''They were created to fill short-term labor shortages, and then the foreign workers would go home.''

Other lawmakers say the green card mess isn't so much a problem of immigration policy as it is a bureaucratic failure.

''We have done nothing but increase the funding for INS over the period of several years,'' said Larry Neal, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm, Republican from Texas. ''If they have chosen not to make this a priority, that explains a lot.''

INS officials strongly disagreed with Neal's assessment.

''Since about 1995, INS has seen an almost tripling of applications of all types,'' agency spokeswoman Eyleen Schmidt said. ''We have not seen a corresponding increase in our resources.''

'I WANT TO WORK'

Saravanamagesh ''Gan'' Ganesan, a programmer at a Dallas company, filed his green card application three years ago and just received notice that the Texas Workforce Commission has opened his file. That's the first stop for green card paperwork. But the application will probably take longer than the 15 months Ganesan has left on his visa. After the Texas Workforce Commission, the application has to go through the U.S. Labor Department and then the INS.

''The irony is I want to work, and there are so many jobs that are not being filled and you have so few Americans graduating from technical colleges,'' said Ganesan, 30, who asked that his company not be named.

He arrived here more than six years ago from India, spending two years earning a master's degree in business administration from the University of Oklahoma and four on the job in Dallas. ''I have been here since age 23; I am pretty much changed,'' he said. ''It's not easy going back.''

His company says it will offer to relocate him to its Canadian office because it doesn't want to lose his skills, but he would prefer to stay here.

The Texas Workforce Commission, which helps the U.S. Labor Department evaluate green card applications, sympathizes with workers such as Ganesan but says it is working as fast as it can, given its resources.

''We will do as much as we can,'' commission spokesman Larry Jones said. ''We do feel that the federal government needs to apply resources to the program if they want to clear it (the backlog) up.''

The labor movement has opposed increased immigration in recent years, but some groups support reform. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers-USA advocates eliminating the H-1B system in favor of giving immigrant workers green cards instead of temporary visas. Fewer workers would be let in, but they wouldn't have to worry about leaving the country after six years.

''There is certainly a place for people to immigrate here,'' said Merrill Buckley, the group's president. ''But the H-1B is working against people who are coming in here.''

But some industry officials say foreign workers have little to complain about. They were never promised a green card, and it was explicit that their visas were temporary.

Jack Martin, special projects director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, says those who want to become residents or citizens should file their applications early. ''The problem is a processing delay, and one that is not an impediment if the process is started early enough,'' he said. Martin's group advocates reforms that would cut down the number of foreigners coming into the country. It has also been running ads that claim foreigners are taking jobs away from qualified American workers.

Some high-tech officials say they want a more efficient processing system but don't think foreign workers should expect a red carpet.

''They don't have to use the H-1B program,'' said Harris Miller, president of the Information Technology Association of America, which represents tech companies. ''They can stay in their own country or they can go to another country. They are trying to turn this into an entitlement program.''

But Heatley of Akili says the system misled him into believing that he could build a successful life in America, only to tie him up in bureaucratic knots when he tried.

''The opportunities certainly are there, but you have to work to find them,'' said Heatley, who hopes to return to the United States. ''When you do find them (you're) like a kid in a candy store. It's incredible, but then they take the candy from your hand.''

© Copyright 2000 Knight Ridder News Service