9 ms·

I like that they have the raw data at https://www.uscis.gov/tools/reports-studies/h-1b-employer-data-hub-files https://www.uscis.gov/tools/reports-studies/h-1b-

I like that they have the raw data at https://www.uscis.gov/tools/reports-studies/h-1b-employer-data-hub-files https://www.uscis.gov/tools/reports-studies/h-1b-employer-da...

disgruntledphd2 8y ago
I like the documentation even more, to be honest :)
minimaxir 8y ago
Why is the file size of the 2018 data much smaller compared to the other full years? Are there that many fewer H-1Bs?
- protomyth 8y ago
  Looks like there was a reduction, although the 2018 data seems like it cuts off funny.
- holy_city 8y ago
  Speaking anecdotally (which maybe the dataset backs up?) - yes. Immigration bureaucracy has slowed to a crawl, processes that used to take 6 weeks are now taking 6 months. It's unfortunate, since the news only talks about the administration's policies on undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers, not how the administration is dragging their feet on _all_ immigration processes. It's just not worth it to sponsor an H-1B, especially if you're a medium/small sized company. Costs too much time and money.
  - raincom 8y ago
    USCIS is delaying every immigration application--not just H1b stuff. Even though there is no explicit policy to delay applications, I heard officers are told to delay. Since there is no backlash, it is going to be like that for a while.
    - Bhilai 8y ago
      Genuinely curious: Why don't the applicants give up and go back to their home countries ? H1B processing is very slow, Green Cards are taking decades, so is it still worth it ?
      - outworlder 8y ago
        > Green Cards are taking decades This is only for certain countries, by the way. > Why don't the applicants give up and go back to their home countries ? Have you got any experience in moving to another country? Do you have family? So you spend years away from your country, getting promoted at work, kid at an american school (speaking English every day, with his american friends), wife going to an university or working(after enduring all the initial difficulties acclimating), for you to suddenly say: "meh, let's throw everything away and go back". Try that and let us know how that goes. Maybe if you are young and single. Now, if you ask me, should people still try to come, given the current political climate? I am not sure. It's a wonderful country and the allure of the Bay Area is too great, if you are in IT. But the immigration system makes absolutely zero sense and is very demeaning. You need a lot of mental fortitude to endure it – even more so if you are from one of the countries with queues. Make sure you and your family can deal with the uncertainty, for years.
        tholman 8y ago
        The Green Card process has definitely slowed down. I recently physically lost mine (with my whole wallet) and the process to get a second card printed, again, I've been approved and had it for years... is 2 to 13 (not a typo) months. Stuck, unable to leave the country until then, lest they not let me back in again.
      - Tyrek 8y ago
        A reasonable portion of H-1Bs are from students who graduated domestically (within the US) and found jobs in the US. Their degrees might not have the brand name recognition back home, they might not want to go home for various reasons, etc.
  - omegaworks 8y ago
    For this reason it's critically important to push back when this administration claims to only care about illegality. They are slow walking all immigrants, focusing the brunt of their enforcement activity on black and brown folks, up to and including turning people away from self-deportation processes if they present as white. It is a coordinated effort to delay demographic shifts.
    - Mountain_Skies 8y ago
      Causing demographic shifts isn't the stated purpose of the immigration system. No presidential candidate would ever run on replacing incumbent demographics with planetary demographics. Are you suggesting that demographic replacement should be the purpose of the US immigration system or the purpose of the immigration system of any country for that matter? To do so would invite an incredible backlash against all forms of immigration pretty much anywhere it was openly stated.
      - munk-a 8y ago
        This is flipping the parent poster on their head and then some. The immigration system is supposed to allow a fair and just way for new people to immigrate, _that's it_. There has been (among really stupid internet circles) this concept that demographic replacement is a thing we should all be running around waving our arms over. I believe simple pandering and greed (more than demographic replacement) is a motivation for the immigration law shifts we're seeing today but... Wanting to avoid a demographic shift is an invalid reason to constraint immigration in my eyes, I find arguments like that to be heavily based in strongly bigoted opinions.
        patrickg_zill 8y ago
        If you say "the State is electing itself a new people" then the demographic shift is more obviously anti-democratic, which it is. The people who voted are having their votes diluted...
        8y ago
  - morsmodr 8y ago
    I am a front-end developer on an H1 visa. There is a reason for the slowdown. A lot of companies, Indian IT or consultancy firms in the US are abusing the H1 visa process. They use lawyers and high sounding words to make roles such as functional/manual tester or other non-critical non-STEM roles to sound as technical STEM based roles. IMHO these roles can be easily done by American locals without STEM or technical background, if they have an opportunity. A bit of process and business training is enough. Whether they do get into such roles or not is a different ball game altogether. But the premise of H1 is to provide visa for people with skills that the American market doesn't have. This process is easy to abuse because people in the administration are not tech savvy. Until people from tech in the US decide to take part in governance, there is not much that can be done besides slowing the process a bit so that current people who work at USCIS have the time to gauge applications in a fair way.
    - raincom 8y ago
      I think that's where USCIS is telling employers to prove that the occupation that a company tries to fill, is indeed a "specialty occupation". Right now, USCIS is not forcing established American companies (FAANG, Microsoft, etc) to prove "specialty occupation". There is a reason for it: these big companies can take USCIS to federal courts, thereby curtailing the discretion of USCIS. So, USCIS is going after feeder companies: staffing companies (body shops); outsourcing comnpanies (WITCH and MNC consultancies like Capgemini, Deloitte). One can turn any job into a specialty occupation with a four-page description of buzz words.
    - holy_city 8y ago
      They altered the rules for the H-1B visa program to deal with abuses. https://www.forbes.com/sites/andyjsemotiuk/2019/01/02/recent-changes-to-the-h1b-visa-program-and-what-is-coming-in-2019/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/andyjsemotiuk/2019/01/02/recent... The slowdown has nothing to do with H-1B abuses or exploitation. Nor is it because the administration "isn't tech savvy." It's because the current administration was elected with a mandate from their base to stem immigration in all forms. They do not want more immigrants in this country, and are doing everything they can to prevent more people from coming here, staying here, or being allowed to stay here.
  - hammock 8y ago
    Stats from the data Year...Employers...Approvals 2019........22K..........76K 2018........55K.........334K 2017........49K.........373K
    - demodddd 8y ago
      is this the final list already?
  - malshe 8y ago
    I was talking to a few international masters students who can't find jobs in the US because increasingly companies can't sponsor H1-B. The immigration slowdown is across the board, even for EB1 green card applications. I think the wait time for EB1 is currently about 2 years and it is even more for Chinese and Indians.
    - amrx431 8y ago
      > I was talking to a few international masters students who can't find jobs in the US because increasingly companies can't sponsor H1-B Which schools did they graduate from? My 9 friends went to do MS in US and all of them got jobs in the valley with H1-B sponsorship. Their success is tempting me also to try the masters. Although fun of studying in a US school and CS again is also very tempting.
- wierdstuff 8y ago
  I just downloaded them all and 2018 is larger (measuring by bytes or lines) than 2017/2016/2015.
- raincom 8y ago
  2018 data has 22502 rows; however, 2017 data has 55667 rows.
  - wierdstuff 8y ago
    The file labeled 2019 contains 22,502 rows and the fiscal 2019 year is not yet complete. The file labeled 2018 is the one that contains 55,667 rows.
    - raincom 8y ago
      Well, right now (April 3, 2019), USCIS is accepting applications for 2020. Just decrement by 1 to get the calendar year.
      - econdataus 8y ago
        They may be accepting applications for 2020 but some subset won't be approved until they have the lottery. Also, it may take some time to update the file. The 2019 file will grow larger. Ignore it for now.
- econdataus 8y ago
  If you look again, you'll see that it's the 2019 file that is much smaller. That is because FY 2019 is far from over. You can see a graph of the approvals for the full years of 2009 through 2018 at http://econdataus.com/h1bhub_status_09_18.png http://econdataus.com/h1bhub_status_09_18.png . As you can see, initial and continuing approvals (I.A. and C.A.) are down slightly in 2018 and the denials (I.D. and C.D.) are up slightly. You can generate this graph by going to the application at https://labor.shinyapps.io/h1bhub/ https://labor.shinyapps.io/h1bhub/ , changing Start Year to 2009, clicking the Submit button, and then clicking the Plot tab. It may take 20 or 30 seconds to generate. This application uses the USCIS data that we are discussing.

I like that they have the raw data at https://www.uscis.gov/tools/reports-studies/h-1b-employer-data-hub-files https://www.uscis.gov/tools/reports-studies/h-1b-employer-da...

disgruntledphd2 8y ago

I like the documentation even more, to be honest :)

minimaxir 8y ago

Why is the file size of the 2018 data much smaller compared to the other full years? Are there that many fewer H-1Bs?

protomyth 8y ago
Looks like there was a reduction, although the 2018 data seems like it cuts off funny.
holy_city 8y ago
Speaking anecdotally (which maybe the dataset backs up?) - yes. Immigration bureaucracy has slowed to a crawl, processes that used to take 6 weeks are now taking 6 months. It's unfortunate, since the news only talks about the administration's policies on undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers, not how the administration is dragging their feet on _all_ immigration processes. It's just not worth it to sponsor an H-1B, especially if you're a medium/small sized company. Costs too much time and money.
- raincom 8y ago
  USCIS is delaying every immigration application--not just H1b stuff. Even though there is no explicit policy to delay applications, I heard officers are told to delay. Since there is no backlash, it is going to be like that for a while.
  - Bhilai 8y ago
    Genuinely curious: Why don't the applicants give up and go back to their home countries ? H1B processing is very slow, Green Cards are taking decades, so is it still worth it ?
    - outworlder 8y ago
      > Green Cards are taking decades This is only for certain countries, by the way. > Why don't the applicants give up and go back to their home countries ? Have you got any experience in moving to another country? Do you have family? So you spend years away from your country, getting promoted at work, kid at an american school (speaking English every day, with his american friends), wife going to an university or working(after enduring all the initial difficulties acclimating), for you to suddenly say: "meh, let's throw everything away and go back". Try that and let us know how that goes. Maybe if you are young and single. Now, if you ask me, should people still try to come, given the current political climate? I am not sure. It's a wonderful country and the allure of the Bay Area is too great, if you are in IT. But the immigration system makes absolutely zero sense and is very demeaning. You need a lot of mental fortitude to endure it – even more so if you are from one of the countries with queues. Make sure you and your family can deal with the uncertainty, for years.
      - tholman 8y ago
        The Green Card process has definitely slowed down. I recently physically lost mine (with my whole wallet) and the process to get a second card printed, again, I've been approved and had it for years... is 2 to 13 (not a typo) months. Stuck, unable to leave the country until then, lest they not let me back in again.
    - Tyrek 8y ago
      A reasonable portion of H-1Bs are from students who graduated domestically (within the US) and found jobs in the US. Their degrees might not have the brand name recognition back home, they might not want to go home for various reasons, etc.
- omegaworks 8y ago
  For this reason it's critically important to push back when this administration claims to only care about illegality. They are slow walking all immigrants, focusing the brunt of their enforcement activity on black and brown folks, up to and including turning people away from self-deportation processes if they present as white. It is a coordinated effort to delay demographic shifts.
  - Mountain_Skies 8y ago
    Causing demographic shifts isn't the stated purpose of the immigration system. No presidential candidate would ever run on replacing incumbent demographics with planetary demographics. Are you suggesting that demographic replacement should be the purpose of the US immigration system or the purpose of the immigration system of any country for that matter? To do so would invite an incredible backlash against all forms of immigration pretty much anywhere it was openly stated.
    - munk-a 8y ago
      This is flipping the parent poster on their head and then some. The immigration system is supposed to allow a fair and just way for new people to immigrate, _that's it_. There has been (among really stupid internet circles) this concept that demographic replacement is a thing we should all be running around waving our arms over. I believe simple pandering and greed (more than demographic replacement) is a motivation for the immigration law shifts we're seeing today but... Wanting to avoid a demographic shift is an invalid reason to constraint immigration in my eyes, I find arguments like that to be heavily based in strongly bigoted opinions.
      - patrickg_zill 8y ago
        If you say "the State is electing itself a new people" then the demographic shift is more obviously anti-democratic, which it is. The people who voted are having their votes diluted...
        8y ago
- morsmodr 8y ago
  I am a front-end developer on an H1 visa. There is a reason for the slowdown. A lot of companies, Indian IT or consultancy firms in the US are abusing the H1 visa process. They use lawyers and high sounding words to make roles such as functional/manual tester or other non-critical non-STEM roles to sound as technical STEM based roles. IMHO these roles can be easily done by American locals without STEM or technical background, if they have an opportunity. A bit of process and business training is enough. Whether they do get into such roles or not is a different ball game altogether. But the premise of H1 is to provide visa for people with skills that the American market doesn't have. This process is easy to abuse because people in the administration are not tech savvy. Until people from tech in the US decide to take part in governance, there is not much that can be done besides slowing the process a bit so that current people who work at USCIS have the time to gauge applications in a fair way.
  - raincom 8y ago
    I think that's where USCIS is telling employers to prove that the occupation that a company tries to fill, is indeed a "specialty occupation". Right now, USCIS is not forcing established American companies (FAANG, Microsoft, etc) to prove "specialty occupation". There is a reason for it: these big companies can take USCIS to federal courts, thereby curtailing the discretion of USCIS. So, USCIS is going after feeder companies: staffing companies (body shops); outsourcing comnpanies (WITCH and MNC consultancies like Capgemini, Deloitte). One can turn any job into a specialty occupation with a four-page description of buzz words.
  - holy_city 8y ago
    They altered the rules for the H-1B visa program to deal with abuses. https://www.forbes.com/sites/andyjsemotiuk/2019/01/02/recent-changes-to-the-h1b-visa-program-and-what-is-coming-in-2019/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/andyjsemotiuk/2019/01/02/recent... The slowdown has nothing to do with H-1B abuses or exploitation. Nor is it because the administration "isn't tech savvy." It's because the current administration was elected with a mandate from their base to stem immigration in all forms. They do not want more immigrants in this country, and are doing everything they can to prevent more people from coming here, staying here, or being allowed to stay here.
- hammock 8y ago
  Stats from the data Year...Employers...Approvals 2019........22K..........76K 2018........55K.........334K 2017........49K.........373K
  - demodddd 8y ago
    is this the final list already?
- malshe 8y ago
  I was talking to a few international masters students who can't find jobs in the US because increasingly companies can't sponsor H1-B. The immigration slowdown is across the board, even for EB1 green card applications. I think the wait time for EB1 is currently about 2 years and it is even more for Chinese and Indians.
  - amrx431 8y ago
    > I was talking to a few international masters students who can't find jobs in the US because increasingly companies can't sponsor H1-B Which schools did they graduate from? My 9 friends went to do MS in US and all of them got jobs in the valley with H1-B sponsorship. Their success is tempting me also to try the masters. Although fun of studying in a US school and CS again is also very tempting.
wierdstuff 8y ago
I just downloaded them all and 2018 is larger (measuring by bytes or lines) than 2017/2016/2015.
raincom 8y ago
2018 data has 22502 rows; however, 2017 data has 55667 rows.
- wierdstuff 8y ago
  The file labeled 2019 contains 22,502 rows and the fiscal 2019 year is not yet complete. The file labeled 2018 is the one that contains 55,667 rows.
  - raincom 8y ago
    Well, right now (April 3, 2019), USCIS is accepting applications for 2020. Just decrement by 1 to get the calendar year.
    - econdataus 8y ago
      They may be accepting applications for 2020 but some subset won't be approved until they have the lottery. Also, it may take some time to update the file. The 2019 file will grow larger. Ignore it for now.
econdataus 8y ago
If you look again, you'll see that it's the 2019 file that is much smaller. That is because FY 2019 is far from over. You can see a graph of the approvals for the full years of 2009 through 2018 at http://econdataus.com/h1bhub_status_09_18.png http://econdataus.com/h1bhub_status_09_18.png . As you can see, initial and continuing approvals (I.A. and C.A.) are down slightly in 2018 and the denials (I.D. and C.D.) are up slightly. You can generate this graph by going to the application at https://labor.shinyapps.io/h1bhub/ https://labor.shinyapps.io/h1bhub/ , changing Start Year to 2009, clicking the Submit button, and then clicking the Plot tab. It may take 20 or 30 seconds to generate. This application uses the USCIS data that we are discussing.