VISANOW Advises Anticipated Legislation May Greatly Affect Work-Based Immigration in 2005; Companies need to be proactive in international recruiting.

CHICAGO -- With the close of the 2004 government fiscal year, companies are wondering when problems with the current immigration system will be addressed. The past year produced little legislative activity affecting work-based visas, and without major reform to the current system, American corporations could be significantly affected, advises VISANOW, the leading provider of immigration services.

The H-1B visa, which provides for workers in specialty occupations, is especially in need of legislative reform in the coming year. The demand for specialized foreign labor far exceeds the current congressionally mandated cap of 65,000.

"US employers are filing about 11,000 new H-1Bs a month, and as the economy continues to grow, this number is likely to increase. In a 12-month period, we should have at least 132,000 new H-1B visas," explained Bob Meltzer, VISANOW CEO. "There is clearly a lack of qualified workers, as the 2005 H-1B cap was reached the day the fiscal year began. This shortage severely limits companies' ability to plan for the long term, which is, in part, dependent on the ability to place educated, specialized individuals in open positions. When corporations are able to fill these positions, they are able to grow, which in turn spurs economic growth and creates more jobs. The President and Congress need to act."

The Program Electronic Review Management (PERM) regulation, which will replace traditional and Reduction in Recruitment (RIR) labor certification processing, may be one step towards reform. Expected to be published in the Federal Register shortly, the proposed regulation will impose additional restrictions on prevailing wage requirements, change recruiting procedures and eliminate the ability to use experience gained with the same employer.

"Once PERM is enacted, the labor certification process could be dramatically changed and result in a significantly more work-intensive process for employers. To avoid unknown setbacks, we are recommending companies submit labor certifications and RIR applications under the current process as soon as possible," said Andrew Shackelford, Esq., VISANOW Director of Client Services.

According to the FY 2005 Transition Guidance issued by the Department of Labor, PERM is anticipated to be operational within 60 days of publication, so companies will have considerably less time to file under the current process. Additionally, backlog reduction will be implemented on a first-in, first-out basis, which could temporarily freeze low volume states until the backlog from higher volume states is processed.

Despite the potential challenges in filing for work-based visas in 2005, the number of submitted applications is expected to increase.

"There has been an overall increase in immigration every decade for the past two centuries. Regardless of the world economy, the perception that the United States is the land of opportunity has not changed," Meltzer commented.

For additional information on work-based and other immigration issues, please visit www.visanow.com.