A Rush for Work Visas Even as Demand Dips

The yearly scramble by employers for temporary visas for foreign scientists and technology engineers started on Wednesday, with immigration authorities expecting fewer new petitions this year because of the recession and because of new restrictions on financial companies that received emergency federal aid.

For five business days beginning Wednesday, Citizenship and Immigration Services will accept petitions for the temporary visas known as H-1B for the 2010 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. In recent years, visa limits were reached in the first days of the application period.http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/02/us/02immig.html?_r=1By Julia Preston — New York Times