6 ms·

The problem with the H-1B is that you are basically tied to the company that sponsored you. The one fundamental change that needs to happen is that the H-1B is

by vparikh 10y ago

The problem with the H-1B is that you are basically tied to the company that sponsored you. The one fundamental change that needs to happen is that the H-1B is issued for a period of X years to work in the country - not X years to work for Y company. This is would give H-1B holders the same level playing field to actually receive fair compensation as Americans have. If the companies were truly hiring H-1B because of a lack of talent, then they would be happy just to be able to have the required skill sets to be available.

kinkrtyavimoodh 10y ago
How is this true? You are not effectively tied to your employer in an H-1B visa (unlike in L-1, where you are). If you work for say Google, and want to shift to Facebook, FB can just apply for the H-1B for you and while the actual paperwork takes time, you can move jobs in a couple of weeks. And if you clear the lottery once, you are not subjected to it again. So, modulo the $2-3K that FB will have to spend to apply for your H-1B, how else are you tied to Google?
- geebee 10y ago
  The median salary for a registered nurse in San Francisco is $133,650 a year. How easy would it be for a software engineer on an H1B to become a registered nurse instead? As a citizen, I could do this, in response to my interests and market signals. Or I could install drywall, open a sandwich shop, sell real estate, or try to make a go of life as a writer or artists. Freedom. Nobody owes me success, but I am free to pursue happiness as I define it. Most immigrants, well over a million a year, who come to the US actually have similar freedom. Interestingly, Facebook, a multi multi billion dollar corporation, can't find enough workers who are free to choose their path in life, not from the 300+ million existing US citizens, not from the million+ who come here every year. It needs help from the government, to create a special program that allows Facebook's HR department to decide who is and isn't allowed to come here, in response to Facebook's hiring needs. Remarkable. Yes, I agree, people do overstate the case and often claim that H1Bs can't change employers, and yes, I agree, this is false. There are some very limited options for mobility. Provided you handle the paperwork correctly and limit yourself to sponsoring corporations, you can be a developer at this big corp, that big corp, or maybe even that other smaller corp that sponsored a visa. So here's my point - claiming that H1B holders can change jobs, without that context, is almost as inaccurate as claiming they can't. H1B holders absolutely are not free and full participants in our labor market, and there's no question that this is why some employers like this program so much, and prefer to use it over hiring those who are free (to negotiate and leave).
- vparikh 10y ago
  H-1B employees can only work for those companies that sponsor them. This significantly cuts down on their ability to participate in a free and even employment marketplace. In addition, if an employee looses his current position - they have 90 days to get a new sponsored position or they must leave the country. As you can see, this puts significant unfair power advantage in the hands of the employer.
- ganeshkrishnan 10y ago
  >You are not effectively tied to your employer in an H-1B visa yes and no. The H1b petition is effectively held by the employer. You cannot be jobless if you are on H1b or if the company fires you then you have to leave the country within 30(?) days. Emotionally this is a big factor. Even transferring H1b takes 6-8 months and premium processing has now been shut down. You cannot leave the country during transfer and even shifting companies is not straight forward. A couple of my colleagues had their visas rejected during transfer and had to leave US in few days; they could not even sell their car. The parent poster is more correct than IEEE pragmatically. Allow H1b to hold their own visas. This would fix most of the non-discrimination issues that people have with H1b. IEEE wants to hand out green cards instead of H1b which is highly impractical. It takes 10-20 years to get a green card and you want the government to start handing out to guest workers?
  - tn13 10y ago
    10-20 years is not the time taken by government. It is essentially anti-asian discrimination where the application is simply kept in cold storage. Take $10k from the person and give him green card in 1 month.

by vparikh 10y ago

kinkrtyavimoodh 10y ago

How is this true? You are not effectively tied to your employer in an H-1B visa (unlike in L-1, where you are). If you work for say Google, and want to shift to Facebook, FB can just apply for the H-1B for you and while the actual paperwork takes time, you can move jobs in a couple of weeks. And if you clear the lottery once, you are not subjected to it again. So, modulo the $2-3K that FB will have to spend to apply for your H-1B, how else are you tied to Google?

geebee 10y ago
The median salary for a registered nurse in San Francisco is $133,650 a year. How easy would it be for a software engineer on an H1B to become a registered nurse instead? As a citizen, I could do this, in response to my interests and market signals. Or I could install drywall, open a sandwich shop, sell real estate, or try to make a go of life as a writer or artists. Freedom. Nobody owes me success, but I am free to pursue happiness as I define it. Most immigrants, well over a million a year, who come to the US actually have similar freedom. Interestingly, Facebook, a multi multi billion dollar corporation, can't find enough workers who are free to choose their path in life, not from the 300+ million existing US citizens, not from the million+ who come here every year. It needs help from the government, to create a special program that allows Facebook's HR department to decide who is and isn't allowed to come here, in response to Facebook's hiring needs. Remarkable. Yes, I agree, people do overstate the case and often claim that H1Bs can't change employers, and yes, I agree, this is false. There are some very limited options for mobility. Provided you handle the paperwork correctly and limit yourself to sponsoring corporations, you can be a developer at this big corp, that big corp, or maybe even that other smaller corp that sponsored a visa. So here's my point - claiming that H1B holders can change jobs, without that context, is almost as inaccurate as claiming they can't. H1B holders absolutely are not free and full participants in our labor market, and there's no question that this is why some employers like this program so much, and prefer to use it over hiring those who are free (to negotiate and leave).
vparikh 10y ago
H-1B employees can only work for those companies that sponsor them. This significantly cuts down on their ability to participate in a free and even employment marketplace. In addition, if an employee looses his current position - they have 90 days to get a new sponsored position or they must leave the country. As you can see, this puts significant unfair power advantage in the hands of the employer.
ganeshkrishnan 10y ago
>You are not effectively tied to your employer in an H-1B visa yes and no. The H1b petition is effectively held by the employer. You cannot be jobless if you are on H1b or if the company fires you then you have to leave the country within 30(?) days. Emotionally this is a big factor. Even transferring H1b takes 6-8 months and premium processing has now been shut down. You cannot leave the country during transfer and even shifting companies is not straight forward. A couple of my colleagues had their visas rejected during transfer and had to leave US in few days; they could not even sell their car. The parent poster is more correct than IEEE pragmatically. Allow H1b to hold their own visas. This would fix most of the non-discrimination issues that people have with H1b. IEEE wants to hand out green cards instead of H1b which is highly impractical. It takes 10-20 years to get a green card and you want the government to start handing out to guest workers?
- tn13 10y ago
  10-20 years is not the time taken by government. It is essentially anti-asian discrimination where the application is simply kept in cold storage. Take $10k from the person and give him green card in 1 month.