A bi-partisan group of US governors sent a letter to the US Congress urging an increase to the number of new H1B visas available annually to foreign professionals working temporarily in the United States.

The letter was signed by Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, Rick Perry of Texas, Chris Gregoire of Washington, elliot spitzer of New York, Jim Doyle of Wisconsin, Mitch Daniels of Indiana, Bill Ritter of Colorado, Dave Freudenthal of Wyoming, Janet Napolitano of Arizona, Jim Gibbons of Nevada, Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, and Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota.

The H1B visa is primarily used by US employers to bring foreign professionals temporarily for employment in the US. Only a limited number of new H1B visas can be issued each year. The demand is far larger than the supply, with the government running out of new H1B visas earlier and earlier each year. For fiscal year 2008, the government received more than twice as many requests as the supply of visas available on the very first day that petitions could be filed.

See Governors Send Letter Urging Congress To Raise H-1B Visa Cap, Information Week, September 12, 2007, for more information.