Earlier in this month we had a post highlighting the discussion on H-1b visa, well looks like it was all for nothing, As the expected rush for H-1Bs doesnt seem to have materialised. When the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services began accepting applications for an additional 20,000 H-1B visas earlier this month, it had devised a computer program to help randomly select visa petitions in the event of a torrent. But a rush for the latest round of visas hasn't materialized. The immigration agency said this week that since it began taking applications on May 12, it has received only 6,400 petitions.

The additional visas are available to foreign nationals who have graduated from a U.S. university with a master's degree or above.

Lynn Shotwell, executive director for the American Council on International Personnel, a professional association in Washington whose board of directors includes representatives of multinational firms, still anticipates that the visa applications will be used up.

According to Shotwell, the application process requires proof of a diploma, and she believes that once students get those diplomas, the number of applicants "will increase significantly." She predicts that the visas will be gone by midsummer.

Source: Computer WorldPrashanth RaiTags: H-1B, Visa.