Rep. Lofgren's summary of HR ___ IH, the Helping to Improve Technology Education and Achievement Act (HI-TECH Act).
Re: temporarily increasing the annual caps on H1B visas.
Date: March 15, 2000.
Source: Office of Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA). This page was created by converting an MS Word file into HTML.

Section Outline

SHORT TITLE  THE HELPING TO IMPROVE TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION & ACHIEVEMENT ACT   (The HI-TECH Act)
I.  Provisions Relating to Employment Based Immigration
Section 101 Allows countries with increased demand on the permanent side to utilize employment-based visas from countries with less demand on a quarterly basis.
Creates a bank of visas in the employment based category for use in future years.
Allows H-1B nonimmigrants who are seeking employment based permanent status and waiting for the DOL and the INS to process their petitions to continue to work in the US on an H-1B visa until they receive their permanent visa.
Section 102 Allows companies who have a recruitment requirement to recruit using the Internet.
Section 103  Establishes a Tracking System to determine the status of INS and DOL filings.
Mandates a feasibility study due January 1, 2001 for on-line filing and to review INS and DOL computer systems within the DOL and the INS relating to immigration services.
Establishes a DOL/DOC/DOJ High-Technology Advisory Committee to assist in the establishment of the tracking system, conducting the feasibility study and establishing a system on line to verify Internet recruitment.
II.  Provisions Relating to H-1B Non-Immigrants
Section 201 Increases H-1B visas to 200,000 for FY 2001, 2002, and 2003.
Reserves 70,000 visas for H-1Bs with a MA degree or higher and specifies that 10,000 visas are to be used by institutions of higher education.
Addresses the FY 99 backlog.
Section 202 Requires W-2 forms to be filed with the Department of Labor to ensure wage compliance.
Section 203 If their petition for an adjustment of status or permanent status was filed at least 6 months before their duration of stay expires, then the H-1B visa employee will be able to stay in the US in one year increments until his/her petition is processed. 
III.  Collection & Use of H-1B Non-Immigrant Fees
Section 301 Fee is increased to $1000.
Section 302 Increased funding for the Stafford Student Loan Forgiveness
Program-Double the loan forgiveness program to $10,000 for math and science teachers in low income schools.
Amount:  $66 million annually
Section 303 Increased funding for the Upward Bound Math & Science Program.  The goal of the program is to help low-income, first-generation students in the eighth to twelfth grades recognize and develop their potential to excel in the fields of math and science.
Amount:  $34 million annually
Section 304 National Science Foundation Scholarships
Up to $2,500 will be available to low income undergraduate and graduate students studying math, engineering and computer science.  Students agreeing to work in the "public sector" for three years would be eligible for scholarships of up to $5,000.
Amount:  $30 million annually
Section 305 Regional Skills Alliances—Worker Training
Designed to help address the regional workforce shortages through public/private  partnerships to train workers, this program would allow employers, public agencies, schools, and labor unions to pool resources to train workers for region-wide emerging job opportunities.  Federal funding will be matched by local governments and the private sector to allocate grants to consortia that have meaningful participation with at least ten firms in that industry in the region, be industry-led, be sector-based, and have a commitment for matching funds from local governments and the private sector.
Amount:  $50 million annually
Section 306 Fees for Administrative Expenses for the DOL and the INS.
Section 307 The provisions of this act are effective October 1, 2000.