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"These 44 companies, the study says, are collectively valued at $168 billion and create an average of roughly 760 jobs per company." Firstly, that's 33,000 job

"These 44 companies, the study says, are collectively valued at $168 billion and create an average of roughly 760 jobs per company." Firstly, that's 33,000 jobs or about 0.0003% of the US workforce, so hardly the backbone of the economy. Secondly, the H1B program, the subject of the article, is not an immigration program but a guest worker program. Generally, H1B workers leave the country and don't go on to start companies because the visa is limited to six years.

dominotw 11y ago
>Generally, H1B workers leave the country and don't go on to start companies. Do you have any stats on this or is it just a gut feeling?
YZF 11y ago
Very anecdotal but all my friends who got to the US on an H1B have moved on to green card and citizenship. I would imagine this is quite common as it is a "dual-intent" visa. I think it would be better for immigrants and Americans if workers got a permanent residency immediately status rather than a temporary work visa tied to a given company.
- falsestprophet 11y ago
  The largest users of H1Bs, the big outsourcing firms like Tata and Infosys, don't sponsor permanent residency. The two largest ones had something like 13,000 new H1Bs in 2013 and sponsored 7 people for permanent residency that year.
  - smilekzs 11y ago
    They are also the main abusers of H-1B, universally hated by _real_ tech companies and university graduates (applying for one).
hibikir 11y ago
Nope, the H1B visa is THE immigration program. Every university will tell you that. The route used to go like this: Studying in an American university will get you an F1 visa, which gets you either a first job or an internship. Then, if you are any good, the only sensible way for your employer to retain you is to file for H1B. Back when I did it, it was really easy to get it (as opposed to today's 1/3 lottery). At that point, you can say that you want a green card. Nobody is going to be crazy enough to sponsor someone for a Green Card if they aren't working there already, if just because it's a relatively long process in the best of cases, and many years the worst. So we get H1Bs so that companies will be OK sponsoring us. Once your green card process is pending, the visa stops being limited: You just have to wait as many years as it might take to get to the front of the green card queue. Then you will be approved, and become a permanent resident. Today, getting the H1B is actually HARDER than getting the green card, but getting one first is pretty much mandatory due to the delays. This is what makes the H1B the main road in. If you look at the employment based green cards handed out every year, a very large percentage comes from H1s, or maybe L1s(which only works in a company that has an international subsidiary) There are H1Bs that go back home, but they are those that get laid off at the wrong time, so they give up on the green card process.
- cplanas 11y ago
  Good comment. Just a clarification: there is no path to the Green Card from L1B. There is a path from L1A, but I would guess they are a minority of the L1 visas. So yes, H1 seems to be the one and only skilled immigration program.

dominotw 11y ago

>Generally, H1B workers leave the country and don't go on to start companies. Do you have any stats on this or is it just a gut feeling?

YZF 11y ago

Very anecdotal but all my friends who got to the US on an H1B have moved on to green card and citizenship. I would imagine this is quite common as it is a "dual-intent" visa. I think it would be better for immigrants and Americans if workers got a permanent residency immediately status rather than a temporary work visa tied to a given company.

falsestprophet 11y ago
The largest users of H1Bs, the big outsourcing firms like Tata and Infosys, don't sponsor permanent residency. The two largest ones had something like 13,000 new H1Bs in 2013 and sponsored 7 people for permanent residency that year.
- smilekzs 11y ago
  They are also the main abusers of H-1B, universally hated by _real_ tech companies and university graduates (applying for one).

hibikir 11y ago

Nope, the H1B visa is THE immigration program. Every university will tell you that. The route used to go like this: Studying in an American university will get you an F1 visa, which gets you either a first job or an internship. Then, if you are any good, the only sensible way for your employer to retain you is to file for H1B. Back when I did it, it was really easy to get it (as opposed to today's 1/3 lottery). At that point, you can say that you want a green card. Nobody is going to be crazy enough to sponsor someone for a Green Card if they aren't working there already, if just because it's a relatively long process in the best of cases, and many years the worst. So we get H1Bs so that companies will be OK sponsoring us. Once your green card process is pending, the visa stops being limited: You just have to wait as many years as it might take to get to the front of the green card queue. Then you will be approved, and become a permanent resident. Today, getting the H1B is actually HARDER than getting the green card, but getting one first is pretty much mandatory due to the delays. This is what makes the H1B the main road in. If you look at the employment based green cards handed out every year, a very large percentage comes from H1s, or maybe L1s(which only works in a company that has an international subsidiary) There are H1Bs that go back home, but they are those that get laid off at the wrong time, so they give up on the green card process.

cplanas 11y ago
Good comment. Just a clarification: there is no path to the Green Card from L1B. There is a path from L1A, but I would guess they are a minority of the L1 visas. So yes, H1 seems to be the one and only skilled immigration program.