Top management of high-tech companies have been asking the US government to rework their Senate immigration bill to allow them to hire more foreign workers.

According to a report published in New York Times, Bill Gates and Steven A Ballmer of Microsoft have approached the US government and lawmakers urging them to provide more visas for temporary foreign workers and permanent immigrants who can fill essential jobs.

Internet giant Google reminded America that one of its founders, Sergey Brin, came from the Soviet Union as a young boy.

But as the NYT report pointed out so far the efforts of corporate America to loosen the tightening immigration grip has yielded little.

The US Senate plans to begin working on the bill again this week. The debate will primarily deal with proposals for granting legal status to illegal immigrants. The sections of the bill that concern immigrants working in high-tech industries are being seen as crucial.

The NYT report states that US tech companies strongly believe that to succeed in the global economy they need to have the ability to hire larger numbers of skilled foreign professionals such as engineers and scientists. They seek permanent-residence visas for these professionals, known as green cards, and H-1B visas.