While this new congress is only days old, there has been much speculation on whether new immigration reform for 2015 might benefit companies who employ highly skilled workers.? Senator Orrin Hatch (Utah ? R) has been sworn in as the President Pro? Tempore of the Senate and he has given indications over the past several weeks that he looks forward to passing immigration legislation in early 2015 that would increase the number of visas available to highly skilled workers.? There seems to be a good chance that Hatch will reintroduce the 2013 Immigration Innovation act (I-Squared) which would dramatically increase the number of H-1Bs available from the current 85,000 to 115,000.? The act also contained provisions to increase the number of available H-1Bs up to 300,000, depending on economic circumstances.
I-Squared could carry necessary bipartisan support and in 2013 garnered significant support from the CEOs and leaders of Apple, Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Cisco and others.? These are good indications that we could see a much needed increase in H-1B availability in the next several months.? Graham Adair continues to monitor these discussions closely and will provide updates as they become available.