SAN JOSE, Calif. �� Demand for the controversial H-1B visa that Bay Area tech companies rely on always surpasses available visas, but now a San Francisco company says it has a solution for foreign workers seeking U.S. jobs: automated help getting so-called genius visas.
PassRight wants to steer highly qualified workers toward the O-1 visa, which, according to the U.S. government, is for people of "extraordinary ability or achievement."
The O-1 visa is intended for superstars in sciences, arts, education, business, athletics, movies and television.
"Through its 'O-1 is the new H-1B' program, PassRight is creating an innovative way for U.S. companies to recruit foreign talent," the company said in a press release.
"The solution involves the semi-automation of the O-1 visa."
Good for up to three years, with extensions possible, the O-1 has no cap, unlike the lottery-based H-1B, which has an annual limit of 85,000 new visas.
PassRight's service provides an "automated screening process" that allows potential visa applicants to see if they might qualify for an O-1, and then complete about 80 percent of their applications using the automated system, according to the company.
A lawyer for a candidate can complete the other 20 percent, PassRight said.
PassRight's process connects applicants with a talent agency that sponsors qualified workers and can place them in companies, according to the startup.
A critic of the H-1B program, Norm Matloff, said he strongly supports the O-1 visa but that it should be awarded only to "the truly outstanding talents."
PassRight may be "over-promising," said Matloff, a computer science professor at the University of California, Davis.
