• Keep the largest
employer in WA
State competitive by
ensuring Microsoft
can attract and retain
the best talent from
around the world
• H1-B Visa and Green
Card Retrogression
keeps us in a state of
limbo for 10-15 years
• Affects our career
and family life
• Drives valuable hightech workers to
relocate to other
countries
• Immigrants avoid
investing in local
property or startup
company due to
uncertainty in lives
• Due to Green card
issues, Microsoft
opened office in
Vancouver and R&D
Center in Beijing.
70% of students in US science and engineering
programs 1995-2006 were immigrants
Over 50% of high-tech companies in Silicon Valley were
founded by immigrants, e.g. Google, Yahoo, bay and Intel
For every worker hired on
an H-1B visa, at least 5
new jobs created
Immigrants are
filing patents at
twice the rate of
American-born
31% of VC-funded founders came from
the H1-B Visa Program
Antiquated Green Card system favors family
reunification over prioritizing skilled workers
Out of 1 million GC issued per year, only 9% go to workers with
advanced degrees, most go to people sponsored by family
Flat quota applies to
India and Malawi equally,
does not reflect population
or source of high skilled
workers
Loosening GC and H1-B visa restrictions
will increase taxes, could reduce federal
deficit by $100 billion over 10 yrs
Due to backlog,
H1-B temp visa
workers wait in
vain for GC and
many are
relocating to
other countries
Employer Files
Labor Petition
Department of Labor approves
the Labor certification
USCIS approves the I-140 petition
USCIS assigns visa
numbers
Applicant applies to
adjust to
permanent resident
status (I-485)
• 5-10 YEARS Retrogression for Indian EB-2 (professionals with
advanced degrees or exceptional ability) and 5-10 YEARS for
Chinese EB-2; Indian EB-3 applicants retrogressed 10+
YEARS!!
• I.e. Indian EB-2 applicants with Priority Dates (PD) after Jan
2003, unable to file I-485. This after YEARS long delay in labor
certification.
•
However, applicant with identical PD, skills and job from other
countries may file I-485 right away. Not First (Equivalent Skill)
Come, First Served system.
•
Does not account for world distribution of skills or industry needs.
Industry needs highly skilled tech workers. India and China have
invested in tech and science education. Policy set as though all
countries have same distribution of skills.
Garth Bradley
“As a native-born American, I signed this letter because I am
fully aware that the competitiveness of my company and
my industry rely on bringing engineering talent from
abroad. Because not enough American kids are choosing to
major in engineering and science, we must fill these gaps
by hiring from abroad, otherwise the US will not maintain
its lead in high-tech innovation. Innovation by engineers
fuels high-tech growth. Without them, I would not have a
job in marketing.”
PARMEET
BATRA
“I came to the US on a student visa (MS degree) in 2000 and
decided to stay here after graduation. I am a law abiding
resident of the US and after being here for 10 years, I still
don’t have a Green card or citizenship because of archaic
and anti-immigrant quotas. Instead, I am subject to the
hassles of submitting applications to USCIS every year and
am at the mercy of border patrol. I got married in 2008
and my wife joined me on an H4. She cannot pursue a
career in business marketing because of the visa
restrictions. All these reasons are making it difficult for us
to live here.”
OSCAR OMAR
GARZA SANTOS
MEXICO
“My successful tenure in this country to apply my computer
science & videogame business knowledge as well as
trilingual communication skills for Microsoft has come to a
halt after 7 years working in both WA and TX. Due to job
relocation, I have gone through Green Card process resets
imposed by an immigration system that still keeps me
waiting for the resident permit beyond the traditional 6year H1-B visa timeframe. The limitations imposed in my
life in the work I can do, the role I can perform, the time I
get to spend with my family as well as who should I marry
are too much to bear. Frustrated by this immigration
deadlock, I have decided to return to Mexico where I am
planning the development of my own video game & mobile
apps company. I would have preferred to establish my
startup here in Bellevue and live in WA, but I’d rather invest
in Latin America or Europe now and find a more welcoming
country that will enable me to live as a first class citizen.
GUSTAVO
MUNOZ CASTRO
MEXICO
“The USA needs a modern, competitive and fair
immigration system. The system right now does not
work for employment-based immigrants or the US
economy. The arbitrary quotas and per country
restrictions make thousands of visas go unused while
the US economy loses thousands of US-educated
foreign science & engineering students who go home
because they cannot stay. It doesn’t make sense!”
NAVANEETHA
KRISHNAN
THANKANADAR
INDIA
I landed in the US in 2005 and got a offer at Microsoft in
2006, but it took roughly 3 years to secure my H1B visa.
Twice my H1B visa got rejected in the lottery as the quota
ran out . It was a really frustrating experience. I had to go out
of the country for about an year before I could get back to
US on a H1B visa. Luck worked for me the third time. For the
first time in my life, I had to believe in luck rather than my
skills and experience. Now I’m back on an H1B and it scares
me that I have to deal with the same quota system for my
Green Card which currently has a indefinite wait for my
country. I feel that this quota and lottery system is not
designed to bring and retain the right talent in the United
States. The uncertainty here is really a nightmare for fellow
foreign workers like me. I wish this situation would change
soon with immigration reform.
Oscar Calvo
Costa Rica
My Mother In Law has tried to apply for a tourist Visa 3 times.
The 3 times she has been denied because my wife’s family is
a low income family for which proving strong ties to Costa
Rica is hard to demonstrate.
She has been unable to witness the birth of her only two
grandchildren. This have brought great sadness to my wife
and my immediate family.
It’s a shame that the grandmother of my children would never
get to know the house where they are growing, just because
of her economic situation.
Comprehensive
Immigration
Reform (CIR)
LEADERSHIP ROLE
IN HOUSE
• We are behind
Comprehensive
Immigration Reform
for all immigrant
workers—high skill
and undocumented.
United as a larger
force, we have a better
chance of success. Will
Rep. Reichert support
us and fight for CIR?
• With crisis in AZ and
majority of Americans
want immigration
system fixed, will Rep.
Reichert be a voice of
reason and use his role
as Vice Chair of the
GOP Committee on
National Security to let
other Republicans
know we need a
sensible solution?
NEW AMERICANS
CANDIDATES FORUM
• We would like to
invite Rep. Reichert
to attend a New
Americans
Candidates Forum
on the Eastside in
early October with
over 200 immigrant
voters. Sponsored
by OneAmerica.
GREEN CARD
RETROGRESSION
• Address Green Card
Retrogression that
that has made US
citizenship and the
American dream
beyond our reach
• Allow recapturing of
unused visas/Green
Cards across all
quotas
QUOTAS
• Increase per country
quotas, especially for
India and China
• Exempt
spouses/families from
quotas, allowing
wives work permits
• Exempt immigrants
with science,
technology,
engineering and math
(STEM) degrees
PATHS TO
CITIZENSHIP
• Ease the path to
citizenship for
Employment-Based
Immigrants
gbradley@microsoft.com
425-722-2586