As the April 1 deadline to file H-1B visa applications nears, the debate is heating up among IT industry watchers and skilled workers over whether the often maligned program adequately serves U.S. companies or American workers as it was originally intended.

For IT industry watchers, the H-1B Specialty Occupation Visa originated as a means for U.S. companies to hire non-citizens with skills that seemed in short supply in America, fostering innovation within the country and keeping jobs from being sent overseas. The program applies to industries other than IT, such as education, science and medicine, but seems to have earned the worst reputation for displacing U.S. tech workers. Now industry watchers say the bad reputation the program engenders hinders the system from working to its full potential as American firms and foreign applicants scramble to receive one of 65,000 slots available for 2009.

"H-1B dominates in the tech industry by far, for engineering, architects and other technical skills, and there are many false theories out there that people from India are qualifying under fraudulent pretenses. It has hurt the public perception of the program," says Sonia Munoz, president of Immigration Legal Counsel, a law firm specializing in immigration law. "U.S. companies need to be competitive in a global economy, and it is most definitely detrimental to the U.S. economy to limit the number of H-1Bs and have fewer specialists hired by this program."

Yet for IT workers, many of whom say there are currently many challenges they face in getting hired by a U.S. company, the program can only been seen as having a negative impact on the American economy as firms look to hire less expensive, foreign workers for jobs that could be filled by U.S. citizens.

"Executives are being told by their hiring managers that there are not skilled workers in the U.S. and they must seek H-1Bs to fill positions," says Terri Morgan, a principal at Wudang Research Association who says she has encountered issues when seeking IT employment from U.S. companies, such as IBM. "There are a whole host of us out here that have really good skills and know the culture, but maybe we don't have one item on the check list HR is seeking. H-1B applicants know how to manipulate the system and companies know how to make it appear as though they exhausted their options here."

One company that reportedly has more than 4,000 jobs to fill is Microsoft, and Chairman Bill Gates, adding fuel to the fire, is expected to speak to Congress this week to encourage lawmakers to increase the cap of H-1B visas available. Companies such as Microsoft argue they need to be able to draw from a broad pool of specialized skill sets to be able to innovate and compete in a global economy. And while an additional 20,000 visas are available to applicants with U.S. graduate degrees, last year the number of available visas expired within a day of the filing start and industry watchers expect the same this year.

"We expect to see the slots be overbooked almost instantly. The backlog is so huge, and there is no doubt there is a problem with this system that has been continued and serious for years but could only be greater this year than it was last," says Roger Cochetti, group director of U.S. public policy at the Computer Trade Industry Association, or CompTIA.