The L-1 visa allows companies worldwide to transfer key employees to the United States, and is an essential visa for employers in today’s fast-paced, global economy. The L-1 visa facilitates the transfer of international executives, managers and specialized knowledge professionals from their overseas parents, subsidiaries or affiliates to the United States. This flow of key personnel encourages international trade and foreign investment in the United States. A 2010 Business Roundtable and U.S. Council for International Business report found many high-paying U.S. jobs stem from global market involvement. The L-1 visa program is critical to U.S. economic growth and job creation and remains a model of success, facilitating international business, in an immigration system in need of repair. It is imperative that Congress ensures the L-1 visa program remains accessible to employers so that foreign investment and U.S. job growth are not inhibited.

The H-1B visa is a temporary visa available to highly educated foreign professionals who hold at least a bachelor’s degree and have an offer to work in a specialty occupation. More than half (57%) of recent H-1B workers hold an advanced degree, and many graduate from U.S. universities. Unfortunately, our immigration system makes it difficult for these professionals to stay and make long-term contributions to U.S. innovation. A system of caps, lotteries and backlogs (H-1Bs applying for a green card) often encourages foreign professionals to pursue long-term careers abroad, even though American taxpayers have invested in their training and education. What a waste! Congress should enact a market-based cap and allow foreign students who earn a U.S. advanced degree to immediately apply for a green card.

Changes in the process for issuing nonimmigrant visas for travel to the United States since September 11, 2001, have made it much more difficult for American employers to facilitate the movement of employees in the global market. The suspension of the domestic visa revalidation program for workers currently in the United States requires that companies send employees abroad to renew visas. Given the delays in scheduling interviews at certain consular posts and the need for the employee to travel with his/her family to revalidate all visas at once, companies have no way to determine how long an employee may be absent from the United States. The result is American employers lose a degree of predictability and incur greater cost.

America must invest in domestic sources of talent if we want our workers and professionals to compete in the global market. Many ACIP member organizations are already investing, with commitments to improving U.S. science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education being a top priority. There are many ways U.S. employers contribute to America’s education system, from paying over $91 billion a year in state and local taxes directed toward public education, to paying over $2 billion in education and training fees since 1999 for use of the H-1B visa. The following are more ways U.S. employers are giving back to improve American worker education and training.

Over the past 25 years, several key immigration acts have changed U.S. law, reforming the employment-based immigration system and impacting the way companies manage their workforces. The following is a detailed summary of the major laws that Congress has enacted since 1986 that are of particular interest to U.S. employers.

There are over 20 temporary visa categories, for many different purposes and each visa’s period of stay vary from a few days to several years. Many visa classifications can also be granted to the principal applicant’s spouse and minor children. The many varied temporary visas categories that exist today follow.

Can you imagine waiting until 2020 for a job promotion if you were qualified today? Unfortunately, this is what is happening to highly educated professionals in organizations across the United States due to our arcane immigration laws. Scientists, engineers and other professionals born in India and sponsored for an employment-based (EB) green card today will likely not receive it until today’s kindergarteners are graduating from college. It is in our nation’s interest to retain all the talent currently working for U.S. employers. However, this simple goal has become a challenge because outdated visa quotas hold talented professionals in limbo for decades. Increasingly this talent is returning home or to countries with more welcoming immigration policies.

Effective worksite enforcement is crucial to securing America’s borders and our interior.  Secretary Janet Napolitano, Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Congressman Lamar Smith (R-TX) have all emphasized that employment eligibility verification is central to any bipartisan immigration reform.