A five-day window to submit H-1B visa applications ran out on Monday and company executives predict that the supply of visas will be heavily over-subscribed, in spite of the domestic economic slowdown.
The H-1B visa system was designed to allow top foreign graduates - including architects, engineers and computer programmers - to work in the US for up to three years but increasing demand and restricted capacity have left the system struggling to cope.
The cap was set at 65,000 in 1990 and although that number was raised to as much as 195,000 during the dot-com boom it was subsequently allowed to fall back to the original limit.
Last year immigration authorities received applications for more than twice the number of available visas in the first two days alone, forcing the government to hold a lottery and leaving many companies disappointed.
"There has to be a better way," Robert Hoffman, vice-president of government and public affairs at Oracle, the software company, said. "We are dealing with an immigration policy that clearly does not benefit the US economy." Congressional attempts to increase boost numbers failed last year after the issue became bogged down in ill-fated attempts to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill.
The government has made available another 20,000 visas to graduates with master's degrees from US universities and last week it announced an interim rule to extend the time that some foreign-born students with specific degrees may remain in corporate training programmes. However, a government spokesperson said any increase in the cap would have to be approved by Congress.
Legislators introduced three separate bills to reform the H-1B system but they face an uphill battle to win support because US politicians are cautious about taking a stand on immigration issues, companies said.
Business leaders claim the US economy is the biggest loser. Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, told Congress last month that US companies were being forced to locate staff in countries that welcome skilled foreign workers as a result of visa caps.