Just as H-1B workers have done, L-1 visa holders are stirring up controversy in the U. S. A. Whereas H-1B visas allow U. S. companies to hire overseas workers specifically for the purpose of filling open jobs, L-1 visas are meant for intra-company transfers and are valid for a maximum of seven years.

Although there are legitimate reasons a company would transfer a foreign employee to the U. S. A., critics charge that the programme is being abused as a way to cheaply replace American workers.

A company that has resources throughout the world might need to bring in its foreign workers for their special expertise, cross-training or management indoctrination.

"What can be wrong with that?" asked LeEarl Bryant, immediate past president of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The problem, Bryant and others say, is that a loophole in the law allows employers to transfer
L-1 workers to the U. S. A. and then outsource those workers to other companies. When that happens, American workers are often displaced because L-1 visa holders do not have to be paid wages in line with their U. S. counterparts. "It’s even worse than H-1B abuses because it is manipulating the system to avoid paying those people prevailing U. S. wages," said Bryant, who lives in Dallas. "And, of course, it kind of washes the hands of the U. S. employer who has the real work to do." They can say, "we’re not hiring H-1B people. We’re hiring temporary workers from company X, who provide this service of software design."

The government recognises that loophole as a problem, said Chris Bentley, a spokesman for the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services. The bureau is assessing the L-1 programme, and Bentley said that violations are being investigated.

"We certainly do hear about the possible abuses, and the fact that there is an assessment of the visa category would indicate that it is being taken very seriously," he said.

Last month, Rep. John Mica, (R-Fla.), introduced a bill that would close the L-1 outsourcing loophole.

His office noted in a news release that in some instances "American workers have been forced to train their own
L-1 replacements or suffer the loss of severance pay."

"While we want to help our businesses meet their workforce needs, this proposal will help ensure that Americans are no longer victimised through a legal loophole," Mica said. Bentley said the number of L-1 visa holders seems to be tapering off, as is the number of H-1B workers, because of the slow economy.

Alcatel SA, the French telecommunications equipment firm with U. S. headquarters in Plano, Texas, has used L-1 workers, but only a limited number remain, said company spokesman Brian Murphy.

"We had a need for special-skills engineering people," said Murphy, who added that Alcatel has not outsourced its L-1s. "So we had a programme called Go USA where employees, mainly from France and other European countries, could come over here and work."

India-based Tata Consultancy Services uses the L-1 visa programme to transfer employees to the U. S. A. and send them out on consulting projects across the country.

The primary reason is that its workers in India are trained in Tata software, training not available to U. S. workers, said Resident Manager of Personnel, Girish Surendran.

"We’ve got more than 50 research and development centres spread across India in multiple locations," he said. "When they come to the U. S. A. on this basis, they bring that knowledge with them."

Surendran said Tata complies with the legal requirements of the L-1 programme and pays all of its employees the prevailing wage, or more, everywhere they work.