Efforts to increase the annual allotment of visa have become entangled in the even more volatile debate over border security and immigration reform that is stalled in Congress as well as concerns by some lawmakers that jobs are being taken from US workers.

“This is an outsourcing visa,” said Kim Berry, president of the Programmers Guild, a California advocacy group that opposes more H-1B visas. Berry said it’s cheaper for companies to hire foreign college graduates than older US workers.

Last year, US immigration officials received about 150,000 applications for the 65,000 annual allotment of visas on the first day companies could file, forcing them to pick winners in a lottery.

California technology companies, as well as financial institutions, culinary institutes and health-care providers, have pushed Congress to raise the annual limit on the visas. Temporarily increased to as high as 195,000 during the Internet boom, the cap dropped to its original 65,000 level in 2004 as job demand declined. Companies apply for the visas for prospective employees who have at least a bachelor’s degree in a variety of specialised fields. The visas are good for three years and can be renewed for another three. Recipients often apply for permanent residency during that time. While companies scramble to try to fill their jobs, potential workers are left in limbo.

“I’ve invested so much money into my degree, I should be given a fair chance to work here for some time,” said Akbar Hajiani, 28, a graphic artist from India who recently earned his bachelor’s degree from the School of Visual Arts in New York. He has been working for a Virginia graphic and production design company under a one-year extension of his student visa, and the company plans to apply for an H-1B to keep him in the US.

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