FT – Mar 20 – Tech companies in Silicon Valley are facing the most competitive rush ever to secure US work visas for their foreign employees. Starting in April, the US will accept applications for this year’s quota of 85,000 H-1B visas. Last year, that allotment went in the first few days after applications opened. “The supply of tech workers just doesn’t meet the demand right now,” said Shayan Zadeh, the Iran-born founder of Zoosk. When Mr Zadeh first got a visa to the US, he had to hitchhike part of the way from Iran across the border to Turkey to submit his application at the embassy there. Now he is a US citizen and trying to get visas for 3-4 people the company wants to hire. Part of the challenge is the uncertainty of the process, as visas are given out by lottery.
by Sarah Mishkin
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