The land of opportunity. Isn't that what America is supposed to be? The H-IB visa program that was instituted in 1990 gives highly skilled foreigners the opportunity to fill jobs in the United States that American citizens are not available to fill. The programs current guidelines subject it to misuse by employers, resulting in the outsourcing of positions and deterioration of the American work force. Though America is essentially a country made of immigrants, we as a country should ensure we are offering available opportunities to American citizens before reaching beyond the countrys borders. While the premise of the H-1B visa program is good and beneficial to the country when used as intended, further regulations are needed to ensure its proper usage. While the H-1B program is not an immigrant program, it does allow foreigners to reside in the United States for employment purposes. The country caps the number of H1-B visas to 65,000 annually in order to limit the number of foreign non-citizens in the United States at any given time. When all of the exceptions and exemptions for research and institution employees are included, the actual number is not even close to the set limit. In 2010, there were a total of 241,682 reported H1-B visas (Butler, 26). Immigrants with H-1B visas are sponsored by employers and only permitted to be in the United States so long as they keep a business sponsor. The H-1B program does not provide employment for unskilled workers; it exclusively includes only those who have at least a bachelors degree, or equivalency, in specialty occupations (Tannock, 312). While H-1B visas are only available to skilled workers, other visa opportunities are available for temporary employment in the United States. New paragraph here? Americans were surveyed in 2010 on whether they favored highly skilled or low-skilled immigrants. Responders of both high and low skill levels themselves strongly favored highly skilled immigrants to those of a low skill level (Hainmueller, 62). Workers on H-1B visas must be sponsored by an employer for the entirety of their stay in America and their visa can be renewed for up to six years. If at any time an individual with an H-1B visa loses employment, he or she must return to his or her country of origin. Sponsorship from an employer must be in place prior to the visa being issued and the person coming to America. During their years in America on the visa, workers engage in specialty occupations in fields requiring highly specialized knowledge; these are typically professional positions and always require a bachelors degree or some other form of higher education (Temporary Worker Visas). Jobs that employers request H-1B visas for include systems analysts, computer programmers and computer software engineers. New paragraph here?--> Employers report they only hire H-1B workers when there are not qualified American workers available for the positions they need filled (Butler, 24). While employers claim that Americans are not available to fill their open positions, this is not always the case. Often other factors influence firms to prefer employing temporary workers on H-1B visas instead of American workers. Outsourcing has been a problem of American jobs for many years. H-1B visas make it easier for jobs to be outsourced by giving employers the opportunities they need to educate and train foreign workers. Obtaining goods and services from outside suppliers when these goods and services could be created internally by a firms own local staff is one of the fastest growing business practices for companies in the United States [Too much in one sentence. Suggestion instead: One of the fastest growing business practices for companies in the United States is by obtaining goods and services from outside suppliers. However, these goods and services could be created internally by a firms own local staff]. Growing in popularity over the past decade, modern outsourcing not only commonly includes routine tasks, but also business practices closer to the cores of organizations such as customer service management and information technology positions. This transf