H-1B Visas Gone After One Day

The rush by companies, particularly of the high-tech persuasion, to apply for H-1B visas for next year has officially come to an end–only one day after it began.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said Tuesday that it had received 150,000 applications as of Monday afternoon for the controversial work permits, which allow foreigners with a bachelor's degree in their area of specialty to be employed in the United States for up to six years.

That's more than enough applications to meet the cap for the fiscal year 2008 crop of visas, which is currently 65,000, so USCIS said it would be accepting no more petitions. Up to 20,000 additional visas are available for foreigners with advanced degrees from U.S. schools, but USCIS said it hadn't yet determined how many applications fit in that category.

Wow. That's a lot of people. Maybe we should round up 150,000 illegal aliens, and then there would be plenty of room for the people who are trying to enter the country legitimately. No? Of course, if you think that's a bad idea, we could always outsource some of the applicants to India.