Technology Companies: U.S. Homeland Security Department

Technology Companies Dept: The urgent race for such visas highly desired by Microsoft, Apple, Google and other leading technology companies coincides with congressional plans to increase the number available to tech-savvy foreigners, according to Calgary Herald. "It will be a frenzy, because the cap ... is nowhere near high enough to meet demand," said Robert Holleyman, president and CEO of the Software Alliance, a trade group for technology companies and WASHINGTON - The U.S. Homeland Security Department expects applications for high-skilled immigration visas to outpace the available supply in a matter of days, one of the fastest runs on the much-sought-after work permits in years and a sign of continued economic recovery amid new hiring by U.S. technology companies. The race to secure one of the 85,000 so-called H-1B visas available for the 2014 budget year started Monday and requests will be accepted through at least Friday. If petitions outpace the availability in the first week, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for the first time since 2008 will use a lottery to pick which companies get visas to award to prospective employees. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.