Every year, about 1,000 Israelis who work in the hi-tech industry receive B-1H visas to work for their companies in the US. But the US announced they will not be issuing anymore applications for B-1H visas until October 2006, a move that will inevitably hurt Israeli companies trying to be competitive on the international market. Though an alternative 2E visa could have been used in the interim, the Israeli government failed to process the proper paperwork that would have allowed Israelis to apply for this visa.