http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,38395,00.html


Visa Now, But Immigration Later
by Lakshmi Chaudhry
3:00 a.m. Aug. 28, 2000 PDT



Need a work visa or a green card? No problem. Just point, click, and apply.

Chicago-based VisaNow.com is using Web technology to speed up the long,
lumbering immigration process. Companies and their non-U.S. employees can
now apply for a variety of immigrant and non-immigrant visas over the
Internet.

This technical innovation will, however, have little effect on the real
source of immigration delays -- an over-worked and under-staffed INS.
Foreign workers can now send in their applications more quickly, but it's
still the beleaguered immigration agency that has to approve them.

But online visa processing does make life easier for a technology company,
especially its human resources department. "It's definitely been a joy and a
great relief," said Carol Clark, HR director of Buckaroo.com, a VisaNow
client.

Applying for an H-1B visa or green card is usually a long process, with the
HR personnel acting as a liaison between the lawyer and the foreign worker.

The HR department asks an employee to fill out the appropriate forms and
provide necessary documentation. They then add company-related information
and turn the documents over to the lawyer, who then reviews the application
and files it with the appropriate government agencies.

This seemingly simple procedure can become very complicated in practice. Due
to the high rates charged by law firms, companies rarely allow employees to
communicate directly with the lawyer handling their case.

"If any information is missing, the lawyers tell us, and we in turn have to
inform the employee," said Debra Pickett, HR director of Tenfold
Communications, a software firm.

VisaNow instead creates individual accounts for each employee. They fill out
the information online and the company emails them a list of required
documents, and sends them the required forms. The company also immediately
notifies the employee if any information is missing.

Once the paperwork is done, the company takes care of the rest.

"We really free up so much time for corporations," VisaNow president Robert
Meltzer said.

Meltzer said using the Internet to communicate directly with the employee
cuts down on both preparation time and cost. "You don't have to pay some
lawyer $100 an hour to staple and collate," he said. "It's faster and less
expensive because it's all automated."

Clark said her company has saved a significant amount of money by choosing
VisaNow. "If you hire a local attorney in Palo Alto, an H-1B can cost about
$3,000. We're paying $1,500 with VisaNow," she said.

Tenfold's Pickett said she is happiest about not having to deal with a
constant barrage of inquiries from employees. "This is a high-anxiety topic
for them," she said. "They're always asking us questions about their
application, which is a big drain on my time."

VisaNow instead allows employees to check the progress of their application
online.

"If they're worried about their case, they can wake up in the middle of the
night and just dial in," Meltzer said. The company also provides a team of
legal advisors, who respond to any questions the HR department or applicants
might have.

"If you want an answer from a law firm, you usually have to call them many,
many times," Clark said. "I usually get a response from (VisaNow) within a
couple of hours."

Some law firms now also provide various Internet services for their clients.
Immigration lawyer Sean Olender uses email-based applications and offers a
Web-based service that allows HR personnel to check the immigration status
of their employees.

But most have been slow to meet the demands of the fast-paced technology
economy, and rarely recognize the value of a quick response.

"Most immigration law firms are very small. The largest firm has about 110
lawyers," Olender said. "It's usually five attorneys in an office, and most
of them can't even type."

And they often lack the resources to keep up with the technology industry's
rapidly increasing needs. Olender says lawyers tend to respond to their
biggest clients first, while smaller companies are often given low priority.

As of now, VisaNow, with its staff of 35 employees and eight lawyers, seems
to be keeping its clients happy.

"It's definitely the honeymoon period. And all I can say is that it hasn't
ended yet," Clark said.

But while the HR folks are ecstatic, VisaNow can do little about the huge
delays in processing time that make both companies and their employees
unhappy.

Pickett says it currently takes up to six months to get an H-1B visa, which
makes life difficult for startups such as TenFold.

"I'm hiring people in March when I have no idea what our business will look
like in October," she said. "That's why we're keeping the number of H-1B
employees under 15 percent. We don't want to be H-1B dependent."