The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) today criticized the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for not expanding its Optional Practical Training (OPT) program to include the financial services industry. The program applies only to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields of study. SIFMA argued that the current limits to the OPT and H-1B visa programs harm the competitiveness of the U.S.-based capital markets.
“Extending the OPT training period is a positive step and acknowledges the important role foreign high-skilled workers have in maintaining the global competitiveness of the U.S. economy,” said David Strongin, managing director of SIFMA. “By limiting the program to a few narrow fields of study, DHS is effectively picking economic winners and losers. Expanding it to include financial service sector professionals could have served as an important pressure valve for our industry, at a time when H-1B visa limits are reached on day one of their availability.”
“Each of these artificial barriers and unrealistically low ceilings are an impediment to our ability to recruit and retain the most qualified employees. If we want globally competitive capital markets to remain on these shores, the U.S. financial services industry must be able to hire from the global pool of talent. Otherwise, we will continue to see jobs and businesses flee to markets such as London, which facilitate access to the global talent pool,” added Strongin.
Meanwhile, for the second year in a row, the H-1B visa cap was almost certainly reached on April 1 -- the first day firms are able to request H-1B visas for potential employees for fiscal year 2009.
DHS has also said potential OPT employees must be checked through the E-Verify system. While SIFMA and its members recognize the importance of employee verification, firms have expressed serious reservations about the E-Verify program, including the numerous false positives it generates.
SIFMA has called on:- Congress to expand H-1B quotas that enable skilled and experienced foreign nationals to work in the U.S. for specified periods of time;
- DHS to extend The OPT program to include the financial services industry; and
- DHS to streamline and eliminate barriers to the processing of applications that prevent short-term access to the U.S. for conferences and road shows.
Among the 200 firms which received the most H-1B visas in 2007, there were only eight banks or securities firms, according to “BusinessWeek.” These eight firms were granted a total of 1,107 visas. http://www.businessweek.com/table/08/0305_h1b.htm
