Eric Thomas or Frances Cox 202-822-9491 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Oct. 24, 2007

Europe Opens Door to Educated Workforce

Compete America Denounces Steep Hike in H-1B Visa Fees as EU Acts to Ease Entry
for Highly Educated Professionals

Washington D.C. – Compete America harshly criticized the Senate’s approval of the Grassley/Sanders Amendment to the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education appropriations bill as anticompetitive in the face of increased global competition.

The fee hike of $3500 per visa, on top of current fees totaling $1500, sent an onerous message to U.S. employers about the future of the U.S. innovation economy. 

The Senate passed the ill-advised fee hike on the very same day that the European Union announced the introduction of the “Blue Card,” a temporary work visa for highly educated foreign professionals.  The Blue Card program is designed to attract professional talent by cutting red tape and long waiting periods for work within the EU.

“Europe has sent a message.  They are aggressively pursuing the professional talent they need to compete on the global stage,” said Robert Hoffman, Vice President for Government and Public Affairs, Oracle, and Co-Chair of Compete America.  “The Senate has unfortunately also sent a message, and it doesn’t bode well for the U.S. economy.”

Hoffman indicated that the fee hike would hit small and mid-sized U.S. businesses the hardest.

“Cutting-edge U.S. companies depend on specialized talent coming out of U.S. graduate schools.  These scientists and engineers are often foreign-born, as more than half of U.S. engineering master’s and PhD recipients are international students,” stated Hoffman.  “H-1B visa numbers are already completely inadequate.  Raising further roadblocks for U.S. employers trying to hire top talent is shortsighted and anticompetitive.”

Hoffman noted that in the last eight years U.S. employers have paid more than $1billion in H-1B visa fees – funding more than 40,000 scholarships for U.S. students in math and science, supporting science programs for 75,000 middle and high school students, and training more than 82,000 U.S. workers.

For more information on how highly educated immigration benefits America, please visit www.competeamerica.org. 

Compete America (www.competeamerica.org) is a coalition of corporations, educators, research institutions and trade associations concerned about legal, employment-based immigration and committed to ensuring that the United States has the highly educated workforce necessary to ensure continued innovation, job creation and leadership in a worldwide economy.
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