Visa woes dilute high-tech labor force

It took a Utah pharmaceutical company six months to find a qualified applicant for a specialized position in biochemistry, toxicology and organic chemistry.

The applicant wasn't from the United States, and the visa application process took a year and a half — three months of that delay involved explaining why the female applicant hadn't served in her home country's army, as required for all men.

That's one example Celeste Wells, consultant for NPS Pharmaceuticals, sees as evidence of a convoluted immigration process that is threatening America's competitive edge when it comes to recruiting the best minds in science and technology. And small states like Utah aren't immune.

"It isn't easy to convince people to come to a place they've heard nothing about . . . compared to New York City or Washington, D.C.," Wells said. "When we finally get the candidates that are key for us and can't get them through the H1B (visa) process, it's heartbreaking."

Wells was on a panel of immigration experts who spoke recently at a forum on "The Global Competition for Technology and Talent" at the University of Utah.

On a typical job search requiring doctoral degrees and post-doctoral experience, Wells said, "we're lucky if we get four or five applicants who are qualified."

Immigrants are prevalent in many segments of Utah's high-tech labor force, according to an analysis of 2000 Census data by U. senior research economist Pam Perlich.

Foreign-born individuals comprise about half of Utah's medical scientists, 30 percent of astronomers and physicists, and 12 percent of post-secondary teachers, Perlich said.

Perlich said as the baby boomers continue to age, the state is facing 12 flat years until a new wave of children starts moving through the education system.

The panelists cited two major problems with the immigration system: a shortage of H1B temporary visas for specialized workers and a backlog of permanent residency applications.

The current annual cap of 65,000 H1B visas isn't enough even though countries with free trade agreements such as Canada and Mexico, and universities, are exempt, said immigration attorney Lorna Rogers Burgess.

The cap has already been hit for the fiscal year that started Oct. 1, and she noted that 10,000 of the 65,000 visas are reserved for Chile and Singapore because of trade agreements.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has recently proposed increasing the visa cap by 30,000.

Benjamin Johnson, director of the Immigration Policy Center at the American Immigration Law Foundation, said it's becoming unrealistic to expect highly skilled professionals to "walk through a bureaucratic desert."