US hits quota on visas for professionals; random lottery set

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — US authorities said Tuesday they had received too many applications for a visa program for skilled workers for the coming year, meaning a random lottery will determine the winners.

The completion of the 65,000 annual quota for the H-1B visa program, used for many high-tech professionals, had been widely expected by business leaders, who argue the cap is too low and hurts their ability to hire skilled workers.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services, on announcing the quota had been met, did not say how many applications it had received for the fiscal year starting October 1.

But it said it would "carry out the computer-generated random selection process" at a date to be determined.

"Due to the high number of petitions, USCIS is not...

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