Labor Authorizations in terms of years. Part II

In my prior post, I suggested linking employment growth with an estimated number of work-years, authorized by temporary worker programs as a group. This post addresses the actual number of years under each temporary foreign worker program

Government publications define guest-worker authorizations in terms of visas, but many of these visas are multi-year work authorizations and most can be extended. Employment growth can be defined in terms of year to year growth in the employed labor force. By multiplying the number of guest-worker visa by the duration, we can compare the temporary work authorizations to employment growth.

Temporary worker programs defined with spouses & children categories removed.
Duration of Initial visas:

H1A Temporary worker performing services as a registered nurse = 3 years
H1B Temporary worker of distinguished merit…. other than as a registered nurse = 3 years
H1B1 Free Trade Agreement Professional = 1 year
H1C Shortage area nurse = 3 years
H2A Temporary worker performing agricultural services =1 year
H2B Temporary worker performing other services = 1year
H2R Returning H2B worker = 1year
H3 Trainee = 2 years
L1 Intracompany transferee = 3 years
O1 Person with extraordinary ability in the sciences, art, education, business, or athletics = 3 years
O2 Person accompanying and assisting in the artistic or athletic performance by O1 = 3 years
P1 Internationally recognized athlete or member … entertainment group = 5 years
P2 Artist or entertainer in a reciprocal exchange program = 1 year
P3 Artist or entertainer in a culturally unique program = 1 year
R1 Person in a religious occupation = 5 years
TN NAFTA professional = 1 year

Source: http://www.ilw.com/immigdaily/news/2008,0604-crs.pdf

Growth in employment is taken from the BLS publication:

Series Id: LNU02000000
Not Seasonally Adjusted
Series title: (Unadj) Employment Level
Labor force status: Employed

2002 = (-448,000)
2003 = 1,251,000
2004 = 1,516,000
2005 = 2,478,000
2006 = 2,697,000
2007 = 1,620,000

Source: www.bls.gov

Initial work authorizations for temporary workers in years.
(Number of visas multiplied by initial duration of visa)
2003 = 810,999 (65% of same year employment growth)
2004 = 908,487 (60% of same year employment growth)
2005 = 897,848 (36% of same year employment growth)
2006 = 991,137 (37% of same year employment growth)
2007 = 1,128,142 (70% of same year employment growth)

Initial work authorizations with single renewal for temporary workers in years.
(Number of visas multiplied by initial duration plus renewal duration of visa)

2003 = 1,425,163 (114% of same year employment growth)
2004 = 1,622,802 (107% of same year employment growth)
2005 = 1,595,185 (64% of same year employment growth)
2006 = 1,710,500 (63% of same year employment growth)
2007 = 1,923,835 (119% of same year employment growth)

Source for Temporary work visas: http://www.travel.state.gov/xls/FY07AnnualReport.xls Table XVI(B)

Labor Authorizations in terms of years

Hard data is good to find, especially on nonimmigrant temporary workers.

A CRS publication reveals that 628,390 temporary workers were issued visas in FY 2006. These visas vary in duration, in terms of years; with extensions, the H-1B is a six year visa, the L-1b is five years and the L-1a is a seven year visa.

In 2006, 135,421 H-1B visas were issued and 72,613 L-1 visas were issued.
208,025 (33%) of the 628,290 temporary worker visas granted were H-1B or L-1 multi-year visas.

http://www.travel.state.gov/xls/FY07AnnualReport.xls Table XVI(B)

Assume for a moment that the average nonimmigrant temporary guest-worker is allowed (including renewals, extensions and those refusing to depart) to work in the U.S. for 3 years. In Project Management terms, the government has authorized work permits for 1,885,170 "man" years of work in 2006 alone.

The unadjusted growth in the BLS Employment Levels:

2006 = 2,697,000
2007 = 1,620,000

Two year total = 4,317,000 employment growth

Temporary worker assumption (3 yr. work status duration)

2006 = 1,885,170
2007 = 1,885,170

Total work authorizations (in work/man years) = 3,770,340

In terms of work authorization years, 87% of employment growth in the past 2 years has been granted to temporary workers.

Congressional Research for Congress (CRS) publication
Order Code RL31381
U.S. Immigration Policy on
Temporary Admissions


(Page CRS 13)
In FY2006, temporary workers accounted for 1,709,953 admissions into the United States (excluding admissions on laser visas), which constitutes a 69.2% increase over FY1998.

(Page CRS 16)
Each of these issuance categories has grown between FY2002 and FY2006, with the
student category increasing by 17.3% and the temporary worker category increasing
by 21.7%.25 The FY2006 level of the former category was 642,097, while the level
of the latter category was 628,390.


(Page CRS 3)
Temporary Workers. The major nonimmigrant category for temporary
workers is the H visa. Professional specialty workers (H-1B), nurses (H-1C)
agricultural workers (H-2A) and unskilled temporary workers (H-2B) are included.9
Persons with extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or
athletics are admitted on O visas, while internationally recognized athletes or
members of an internationally recognized entertainment group come on P visas.
Aliens working in religious vocations enter on R visas. Temporary professional
workers from Canada and Mexico may enter according to terms set by the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on TN visas.
http://www.ilw.com/immigdaily/news/2008,0604-crs.pdf