New York Asks for Relaxed Visa Policies

The city of New York is feeling the effects of American immigration
policies, says an article in the New York TImes.

An excerpt --
"Until now, visa restrictions have been seen as a problem that
primarily affected technology companies in Silicon Valley and
elsewhere in the West. Bill Gates, the chairman of Microsoft, has been
railing against them for years.

But according to the Partnership for New York City, a business
advocacy group, there is more demand for visas for specialized jobs in
New York, New Jersey and Connecticut than in California, and most of
the demand comes from small and midsize companies, not the largest
corporations. The partnership, whose members include many of the
city's biggest employers, has lobbied legislative leaders, including
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Charles E. Schumer, for a relaxation
of visa policies.

"New York's ability to compete with London, which has much more open
immigration, or with the emerging financial capitals in Asia and the
Middle East, depends on mobility of talent, both in terms of new and
current employees," said Kathryn S. Wylde, president of the
partnership. "What people miss is, New York's standing as an
international capital of business and finance depends on the
professionals within these companies being able to come to New York to
be trained and groomed for leadership positions around the world."

Indeed, companies are capitalizing on more open visa policies
elsewhere to recruit some of the leaders educated and trained in New
York. Gaurav Gaur, for example, an Indian who earned his M.B.A. from
Cornell in 2004, said he seized the chance to leave New York last year
for London to work for Barclays, though it meant turning his back on
opportunities at Bloomberg L.P. and other American companies."

Read the full article at--
http://select.nytimes.com/mem/tnt.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntget=2008/03/24/nyregion/24visas.html&tntemail0=y&oref=slogin