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I'm an H1B visa holder, I think this is a step in the right direction. American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act - should have never existed. It allows

I'm an H1B visa holder, I think this is a step in the right direction. American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act - should have never existed. It allows H1B visas to be extended beyond 6 years. No one should be forced to remain on abusive H1B visa for more than 6+ years of their life. It hurts everyone expect the SV tech giants.

frankchn 9y ago
No one is being forced to remain on H1B visas for any length of time, you can always quit and leave any time. This affects individuals who have green card applications pending and are being granted 1-year extensions while their applications are pending due to a country-based quota system and thus backlog. The only way this would not affect these individuals is if they remove the quota and backlog and grant green cards immediately, but it doesn't sound like the Administration is planning to do that with the talk of "self-deportation" and all. Instead, they just plan to stop the 1-year renewal and effectively kick these individuals out of the country, even if they like their current status and have been waiting for a decade for a green card. I fail to see how this is a step in the right direction for these workers.
- immgrnt 9y ago
  > No one is being forced to remain on H1B visas for any length of time, you can always quit and leave any time I'm taking the abuse for a better life for my family. >This affects individuals who have a green card application pending and are being granted 1-year extensions while their application is pending due to a country-based quota system and thus backlog. The wait time is somewhere between half a century and three and a half centuries [1] The Tech companies or the attorneys never tell their employees about this long wait time. Instead they just lie it being 5-to-10 years. It happened to me, I realised my turn will never come up only after waiting 10 years in the line. [1] https://www.cato.org/blog/no-one-knows-how-long-legal-immigrants-will-have-wait https://www.cato.org/blog/no-one-knows-how-long-legal-immigr...
  - frankchn 9y ago
    I am guessing you are an Indian national currently on a H1B visa (given that you are apparently on an H1B visa and have been in the green card queue for 10 years). If this comes to pass, you will either (a) be transferred to another country by your company if they like you enough or (b) lose your job and get kicked out of the US unceremoniously. How is this better for you or your family? If you dislike the your job and the H1B program, you can leave right now on your own terms, rather than wait for the Administration to enact new policies to kick you out.
    - immgrnt 9y ago
      > How is this better for you Standing in a line for 10 years, and then realizing there is no line. I wish no one else have to go through what I'm going through
      - frankchn 9y ago
        Sure, if there is comprehensive immigration reform that removes the queue for Indian-born applicants. Doesn't sound like that is what the current Administration is planning though. I think at least some people on H1B like their jobs and company (and vice versa) even if the wait for a green card is currently indeterminate, and won't be too happy to see this happen. > I wish no one else have to go through what I'm going through So you think this is a good idea even though your family and you will likely be negatively affected by it if it happens? I assume the only reason that your family and you are still on an H1B is because, on balance, it is better to be in the US than somewhere else, despite you "taking the abuse".
notimetorelax 9y ago
This is an interesting thought. I had the same sentiment when I was staying in Europe on similar conditions. Then the changes came and they at first seemed as worsen the situation, but instead was a change for better. As obusive visas were exchanged for others that offer better conditions.
- frankchn 9y ago
  I am curious, can you give an example where that happened? In any case, I don't think that the current Administration is planning to overhaul the H1B system, given that a change in that visa policy requires legislation, and I don't think it is high on the list of priorities of Congress right now to do anything about this.
  - notimetorelax 9y ago
    I worked for an international organization in Geneva, Switzerland that used to give out work permits that wouldn’t allow spouses to work, neither could we get a credit card. These were more like seasonal permits extended up to 3 - 4 years. Then with the change of leadership this was phased out. At first we thought that we’d have to leave, but then we saw that we were still needed, so they started to give us better visas.
TheCoelacanth 9y ago
It's a step in exactly the wrong direction. This essentially makes it impossible for anyone from India or other countries with high numbers of H1-B visa holders who have applied for green cards to ever get a green card. If someone has worked in the US for six years, we should just give them a green card right away. We shouldn't kick them out of the country just because they happen to have been born in India.
mehrdada 9y ago
> American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act - should have never existed AC21 contains a lot more than H-1B extension. It increases job portability which absolutely is the right direction.
neeleshs 9y ago
Nobody is forcing anyone. It's a choice. The system is not perfect, but we still have a choice. Your choice was to stand in the line as a compromise for better life for your family. I'm standing in the same line as you are, and I have the exact same choices. My choice is to leave the US and go back to India - and take all the money back to India, of course - the money that would've been spent in the US. I do agree that some clarity on whether one will get permanent residence or not is better than this suspended animation we are all in today. Even a definitive "no - you have to go back" is better. Edit: Changed "visa" to "permanent residence"
curun1r 9y ago
I agree entirely. We should be shortening the path to permanent residency, not stringing out a temporary arrangement indefinitely. Having intelligent foreigners commit their future to the US is a win for everyone involved. Temporary foreign workers who are expelled after a short period creates an antagonistic relationship with the US, creates instability for workers while they're in the US and sends valuable assets back to their home countries. Also, ratios should be in place to prevent abuse of immigrant visas. Ensuring that employers are only able to utilize immigrant visas when they're already employing a significant majority of Americans is also a win-win and prevents abuses like the consulting companies that hire almost exclusively foreign workers. It also socializes immigrant workers better to ensure that they're not isolated in immigrant groups with little exposure to US culture and language. As an American, I'm less concerned with where someone was born than I am with where they want to live their life, raise their family and retire. The current H1B program doesn't seem aligned with getting immigrants to commit to a life in the US. It seems designed to encourage foreign workers to put their foreign life on hold for a few years to come to the US, make a lot of money (relative to what they'd earn in their own country) before returning to resume their lives there.
- frankchn 9y ago
  The rumored proposal is exactly proposing that the affected H1B workers (mostly Indians) should be "expelled after a short period" (of 6 years) and have no opportunity to get permanent residency, given that the path to permanent residency for these workers is really long right now. I don't think the current Administration is planning to change anything w.r.t. green cards, since raising the limits or removing the per-country quota requires legislation.
  - curun1r 9y ago
    I didn't say that I agree with the current administration and neither did the poster I was agreeing with. All I was saying is that I don't agree with the current H1-B regulations. There's a third approach that neither the Democrats or Republicans seem interested in that I feel would be of more benefit to both immigrants and our country.
Alfredo123 9y ago
No one is forced to be on H1B. You are welcome to go back to your country any time you wish. As an India I find India far worse than slavery in USA that is why I am in USA in first place. I request Indian employees to gang up and try to move their jobs to India so we can build better industries in India.
- praneshp 9y ago
  > As an India I find India far worse than slavery in USA that is why I am in USA in first place. Tone the hyperbole down a bit, please. This just shows off your disrespect for those that were forced into slavery.

frankchn 9y ago

No one is being forced to remain on H1B visas for any length of time, you can always quit and leave any time. This affects individuals who have green card applications pending and are being granted 1-year extensions while their applications are pending due to a country-based quota system and thus backlog. The only way this would not affect these individuals is if they remove the quota and backlog and grant green cards immediately, but it doesn't sound like the Administration is planning to do that with the talk of "self-deportation" and all. Instead, they just plan to stop the 1-year renewal and effectively kick these individuals out of the country, even if they like their current status and have been waiting for a decade for a green card. I fail to see how this is a step in the right direction for these workers.

immgrnt 9y ago
> No one is being forced to remain on H1B visas for any length of time, you can always quit and leave any time I'm taking the abuse for a better life for my family. >This affects individuals who have a green card application pending and are being granted 1-year extensions while their application is pending due to a country-based quota system and thus backlog. The wait time is somewhere between half a century and three and a half centuries [1] The Tech companies or the attorneys never tell their employees about this long wait time. Instead they just lie it being 5-to-10 years. It happened to me, I realised my turn will never come up only after waiting 10 years in the line. [1] https://www.cato.org/blog/no-one-knows-how-long-legal-immigrants-will-have-wait https://www.cato.org/blog/no-one-knows-how-long-legal-immigr...
- frankchn 9y ago
  I am guessing you are an Indian national currently on a H1B visa (given that you are apparently on an H1B visa and have been in the green card queue for 10 years). If this comes to pass, you will either (a) be transferred to another country by your company if they like you enough or (b) lose your job and get kicked out of the US unceremoniously. How is this better for you or your family? If you dislike the your job and the H1B program, you can leave right now on your own terms, rather than wait for the Administration to enact new policies to kick you out.
  - immgrnt 9y ago
    > How is this better for you Standing in a line for 10 years, and then realizing there is no line. I wish no one else have to go through what I'm going through
    - frankchn 9y ago
      Sure, if there is comprehensive immigration reform that removes the queue for Indian-born applicants. Doesn't sound like that is what the current Administration is planning though. I think at least some people on H1B like their jobs and company (and vice versa) even if the wait for a green card is currently indeterminate, and won't be too happy to see this happen. > I wish no one else have to go through what I'm going through So you think this is a good idea even though your family and you will likely be negatively affected by it if it happens? I assume the only reason that your family and you are still on an H1B is because, on balance, it is better to be in the US than somewhere else, despite you "taking the abuse".

notimetorelax 9y ago

This is an interesting thought. I had the same sentiment when I was staying in Europe on similar conditions. Then the changes came and they at first seemed as worsen the situation, but instead was a change for better. As obusive visas were exchanged for others that offer better conditions.

frankchn 9y ago
I am curious, can you give an example where that happened? In any case, I don't think that the current Administration is planning to overhaul the H1B system, given that a change in that visa policy requires legislation, and I don't think it is high on the list of priorities of Congress right now to do anything about this.
- notimetorelax 9y ago
  I worked for an international organization in Geneva, Switzerland that used to give out work permits that wouldn’t allow spouses to work, neither could we get a credit card. These were more like seasonal permits extended up to 3 - 4 years. Then with the change of leadership this was phased out. At first we thought that we’d have to leave, but then we saw that we were still needed, so they started to give us better visas.

TheCoelacanth 9y ago

It's a step in exactly the wrong direction. This essentially makes it impossible for anyone from India or other countries with high numbers of H1-B visa holders who have applied for green cards to ever get a green card. If someone has worked in the US for six years, we should just give them a green card right away. We shouldn't kick them out of the country just because they happen to have been born in India.

mehrdada 9y ago

> American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act - should have never existed AC21 contains a lot more than H-1B extension. It increases job portability which absolutely is the right direction.

neeleshs 9y ago

Nobody is forcing anyone. It's a choice. The system is not perfect, but we still have a choice. Your choice was to stand in the line as a compromise for better life for your family. I'm standing in the same line as you are, and I have the exact same choices. My choice is to leave the US and go back to India - and take all the money back to India, of course - the money that would've been spent in the US. I do agree that some clarity on whether one will get permanent residence or not is better than this suspended animation we are all in today. Even a definitive "no - you have to go back" is better. Edit: Changed "visa" to "permanent residence"

curun1r 9y ago

I agree entirely. We should be shortening the path to permanent residency, not stringing out a temporary arrangement indefinitely. Having intelligent foreigners commit their future to the US is a win for everyone involved. Temporary foreign workers who are expelled after a short period creates an antagonistic relationship with the US, creates instability for workers while they're in the US and sends valuable assets back to their home countries. Also, ratios should be in place to prevent abuse of immigrant visas. Ensuring that employers are only able to utilize immigrant visas when they're already employing a significant majority of Americans is also a win-win and prevents abuses like the consulting companies that hire almost exclusively foreign workers. It also socializes immigrant workers better to ensure that they're not isolated in immigrant groups with little exposure to US culture and language. As an American, I'm less concerned with where someone was born than I am with where they want to live their life, raise their family and retire. The current H1B program doesn't seem aligned with getting immigrants to commit to a life in the US. It seems designed to encourage foreign workers to put their foreign life on hold for a few years to come to the US, make a lot of money (relative to what they'd earn in their own country) before returning to resume their lives there.

frankchn 9y ago
The rumored proposal is exactly proposing that the affected H1B workers (mostly Indians) should be "expelled after a short period" (of 6 years) and have no opportunity to get permanent residency, given that the path to permanent residency for these workers is really long right now. I don't think the current Administration is planning to change anything w.r.t. green cards, since raising the limits or removing the per-country quota requires legislation.
- curun1r 9y ago
  I didn't say that I agree with the current administration and neither did the poster I was agreeing with. All I was saying is that I don't agree with the current H1-B regulations. There's a third approach that neither the Democrats or Republicans seem interested in that I feel would be of more benefit to both immigrants and our country.

Alfredo123 9y ago

No one is forced to be on H1B. You are welcome to go back to your country any time you wish. As an India I find India far worse than slavery in USA that is why I am in USA in first place. I request Indian employees to gang up and try to move their jobs to India so we can build better industries in India.

praneshp 9y ago
> As an India I find India far worse than slavery in USA that is why I am in USA in first place. Tone the hyperbole down a bit, please. This just shows off your disrespect for those that were forced into slavery.