3 ms·

How about simply allowing H-1Bs to change jobs if they get an offer from another company, and giving them a sufficient window to find something new if they leav

How about simply allowing H-1Bs to change jobs if they get an offer from another company, and giving them a sufficient window to find something new if they leave their current company? The no-recourse indentured servitude relationship that makes people dependent on a company for their residency takes away all the employee's negotiating power. If we could change this, I expect that wages would begin to even out.

tkahnoski 10y ago
They can. It's just painful and depending on the competency of both companies legal counsel, it can take months. We've had employees accept offers with a start date, only the visa transfers weren't finished yet so they started MONTHS after the expected start date.
- DashRattlesnake 10y ago
  It probably needs to be made easier then, so the H1B can switch jobs as easily as a native worker. I have not had to deal with US immigration, but my impression is the H1B process is between the employer and the government. It would probably help to make that between the employee and the government, to give the employee more control.
- mi100hael 10y ago
  The other problem is that AFAIK the 10-year-long Green Card clock resets if they change jobs, so there's a strong incentive not to leave.
  - mavelikara 10y ago
    H.R.392 - Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2017 [1] aims to fix the green card backlogs by removing the per-country quotas. [1]: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/392/text?format=txt https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/392/...
- gozur88 10y ago
  I used to work at a company that had a lot of H-1Bs and treated them terribly. Whenever someone was trying to transfer of get a green card there was some involvement with their current employer, and I always used to wonder "What incentive to they have to do this quickly and correctly?"

3 ms·

How about simply allowing H-1Bs to change jobs if they get an offer from another company, and giving them a sufficient window to find something new if they leav

by danenania 10y ago

tkahnoski 10y ago
They can. It's just painful and depending on the competency of both companies legal counsel, it can take months. We've had employees accept offers with a start date, only the visa transfers weren't finished yet so they started MONTHS after the expected start date.
- DashRattlesnake 10y ago
  It probably needs to be made easier then, so the H1B can switch jobs as easily as a native worker. I have not had to deal with US immigration, but my impression is the H1B process is between the employer and the government. It would probably help to make that between the employee and the government, to give the employee more control.
- mi100hael 10y ago
  The other problem is that AFAIK the 10-year-long Green Card clock resets if they change jobs, so there's a strong incentive not to leave.
  - mavelikara 10y ago
    H.R.392 - Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2017 [1] aims to fix the green card backlogs by removing the per-country quotas. [1]: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/392/text?format=txt https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/392/...
- gozur88 10y ago
  I used to work at a company that had a lot of H-1Bs and treated them terribly. Whenever someone was trying to transfer of get a green card there was some involvement with their current employer, and I always used to wonder "What incentive to they have to do this quickly and correctly?"