'Blue Card' Visa Program

European Union recognizing their industry needs is gearing up to create a competing visa system for high skilled workers. This is in direct competition to the H1B visa in the US and work permits in Canada. Individual European nations do have some sort of immigration laws prior to this but the biggest advantage of the new system, one that is key to the foreign workers is the ability to work anywhere within the EU with one single visa. Here's the BusinessWeek article.

Meanwhile, US Senator Grassley is fighting to increase the H1B fees to almost $6000 per applicant to further restrict the use of H1B visas. Here's the new fee structure

• $1,500 American Worker Training Fee ($750 if employs 25 or less employees)
• $3,500 Supplemental Fee ($1,750 if employ 25 or less employees)
• $500 Fraud and Abuse Prevention Fee
• $320 H-1B Petition Fee
• TOTAL=$5,820

That's progressive thinking from Sen Grassley and other LDAs (Lou Dobbs & Associates).

How about other nations impose similar trade restrictions on US goods and services. Here are few suggestions:

1. Impose 500% surcharge on Pepsi and Coke products for a cola worker training fee so they can learn to make good cola without having to import the technology from US.
2. Add $400 to every box of Microsoft Windows imported for a local software development fund. Use the money collected to build software indigenously without having to import US software.

If you think these sound ridiculous, that's exactly how Sen Grassley's proposed fees sound too.