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Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates clearly got through to some politicians with his plea for more H-1B visas on Capitol Hill earlier this week.

Late Thursday, a U.S. House of Representatives Democrat on the Science and Technology Committee, which Gates addressed, introduced a bill that would double the number of H-1B visas and remove other restrictions from 2008 onward. Then, on Friday, a key House Republican followed with his own proposal for "emergency" relief. His plan: tripling the visa cap.

H-1Bs allow foreigners with at least a bachelor's degree in their area of specialty to be employed … Read more

WASHINGTON--For the second year in a row, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates ventured to Capitol Hill and urged Congress to let more foreign-born engineers work in the United States and to direct larger numbers of tax dollars to research and education.

Just as he did around the same time last year before a U.S. Senate committee, Gates on Wednesday contended America's competitiveness in the global economy is "at risk." He said Congress, the administration, and the next president must commit to overhauling immigration policy and encouraging both public and private research investment.

"It makes no sense … Read more

Opponents of increased H-1B temporary worker visas have long argued that raising the annual cap will cause Americans to lose out on jobs to foreigners--or see their wages depressed.

A new study (PDF) released Monday by a free market-leaning nonprofit group tries to argue that's not the case--and that insufficient quantities of visas are actually sending would-be U.S. job openings offshore.

That group, called the National Foundation for American Policy, argues that for each H-1B visa requested by a corporation, its overall hires climbed by, on average, fivefold. In smaller companies, the group estimated seven new employees were … Read more

PALO ALTO, Calif.--Anne Mulcahy and Jonathan Schwartz became the latest technology CEOs to call on the government to let more foreign-born computer engineers into the United States.

"You have to raise the quotas," said Mulcahy, CEO at Xerox. Schwartz, who runs Sun Microsystems, struck the same theme.

The message went down well with an audience of Silicon Valley elites gathering at Stanford Friday for a daylong conference on political economy. Then again, they were facing a free-trade crowd of true believers, including headliners like eBay's Meg Whitman and former U.S. Secretary of State George Schultz, … Read more

Techcrunch had the chance to interview Governor Mitt Romney, US presidential candidate on the Republican ticket. The good news is that his views on taxation of venture capital and the Internet seem reasonable. The bad news? He's a PC user (though a few of his sons run the blessed Mac).

Of particular note to the tech industry is his view on H1B visas, which allow qualified candidates to come to the US to work:

I like H1B visas. I like the idea of the best and brightest in the world coming here. I'd rather have them come here permanently rather than come and go, but I believe our visa program is designed to help us solve gaps in our employment pool.… Read more

The European Union's new proposal aimed at fast-tracking the immigration process for workers in "highly skilled" is making some U.S. technology heavyweights nervous.

It's no secret that American tech firms prize vast quantities of H-1B temporary visas and permanent residency permits, otherwise known as green cards. The companies argue that these tools are necessary to bring in foreigners for positions they claim suffer from shortages of qualified Americans, particularly the foreign nationals who represent the majority of masters and Ph.D. graduates from U.S. universities in relevant technical fields.

Now they're concerned that … Read more

Editor's note: This story was updated at 10:53 a.m. PDT to clarify a description of IEEE-USA.

High-tech companies and groups representing American engineers are famous for clashing over whether it's a good idea to allow U.S. companies to hire more foreign workers on temporary H-1B visas.

But what's sometimes forgotten in the debate is a key point of agreement among at least some representatives of the warring sides. A new joint letter (click for PDF) to Congress from the Semiconductor Industry Association and IEEE-USA, the U.S. branch of the world's largest professional … Read more

A congressional push this year for an increase in the H-1B visas coveted by Silicon Valley companies seemingly evaporated with the death of a contentious immigration bill. But 13 state governors say the politicians must revive that effort--and soon, please.

Claiming "a critical shortage of highly skilled professionals in math and science to fill current needs," the band of chief executives on Tuesday sent a letter urging U.S. Senate and House of Representatives leaders to forge ahead with upping the number of the temporary H-1B visas and permanent-resident green cards. Click here to view a copy (PDF). … Read more

An India-based company that counts itself among the largest recipients of controversial H-1B visas has agreed to pay $2.4 million in back wages to 607 allegedly underpaid computer professionals employed through that avenue.

The U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday it had found that Patni Computer Systems Inc., which is headquartered in Mumbai but centers its North American operations in Cambridge, Mass., did not pay the required wages to those temporary foreign workers between January 2004 and December 2005. Patni specializes in global IT outsourcing services.

In this case, Patni was not fined or barred from participating in … Read more