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The requirement for H-1Bs are: 1) bachelor's degree or equivalent from any institution on the planet, 2) an employment offer. While there are many brilliant pe

The requirement for H-1Bs are: 1) bachelor's degree or equivalent from any institution on the planet, 2) an employment offer. While there are many brilliant people working on H-1B visas, H-1Bs are people with bachelor's degrees, not necessarily "the best minds". The advantages provided by the H-1B system are: - As a country, get the benefits of educated people without the economic cost of having to raise and educate them. - As a company, more leverage over employees, and in many cases, you get employees with lower compensation expectations. - The visa last 3 years and it can be renewed once, giving you 6 years before a green card is required. In this way, you get the most productive years of an educated adult. The disadvantages are: - Wage depression. - More competition for local workers. - The process of degree certification is done by attorneys not educational institutions. Most 4-year programs are eligible for H-1B, but not all foreign 4-year programs are equivalent to an American Bachelor's degree.

Rapzid 5y ago
That's not the full list of requirements for the H-1B; not for the applicant nor for the employer.
- 29athrowaway 5y ago
  Sure. The employer has to advertise the position openly and give time for domestic employees to apply. Offers, including salaries, have to be published. There's a lot of paperwork included, LCAs, etc... The quota system. I oversimplified it too much, but effectively for an employee the most important requirement is a bachelor's degree or equivalent.
ergocoder 5y ago
The disadvantages are meh. This is like saying "if tim cook and anybody who is smarter than me doesn't exist, I will be apple ceo and earn 200m a year.". If these smart people didn't work for apple, apple wouldn't exist in the first place. I can assure you h1b wage depression is minimal. We of course should get rid of h1b abuse. There is always an improvement. But we should not get fewer h1b people...
- mxd3 5y ago
  I suggest you look into the companies that are actually hiring and getting the bulk of the H1B visas. Because it may surprise you, it's not top tier tech engineers at Facebook, Apple, etc. It's companies like InfoSys and Cognizant. [1] The business model of these companies is to provide workers at a cost below what it costs in the US. This business model is a big reason why they are so successful. At scale these companies drive cost, and wages down. US workers then need to accept lower paying jobs. The worst thing about it is the wage depression here is most felt by the low-tier tech workers, not the well paid SV engineers. And they don't always follow the rules either. Infosys and Cognizant have been caught up in legal trouble for visa fraud. [2] [1] https://www.uscis.gov/tools/reports-and-studies/h-1b-employer-data-hub?state=All&fy=All&naics=All&items_per_page=10&order=field_h1b_int_app&sort=desc https://www.uscis.gov/tools/reports-and-studies/h-1b-employe... [2] https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1347409-usa-v-infosys.html https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1347409-usa-v-infosy...
  - 29athrowaway 5y ago
    TCS and Infosys should had been kicked out of the H-1B system long ago. They are fraudulent as fuck. - They realized the quota system is based on the physical action of taking random entries from the mail. So what they did was submit the same application multiple times, so that their H-1B applicants had a higher chance, to the detriment of other applicants. - They forced their employees to sign a power of attorney and kept all money from the employee tax returns. They suck. They should be sued to oblivion until bankruptcy.
gremloni 5y ago
You have to go through and pass an employment interview for a job 3x the average American wage at the minimum. That’s a hefty requirement already and probably better than any standardized test for gauging ability.

Rapzid 5y ago

That's not the full list of requirements for the H-1B; not for the applicant nor for the employer.

29athrowaway 5y ago
Sure. The employer has to advertise the position openly and give time for domestic employees to apply. Offers, including salaries, have to be published. There's a lot of paperwork included, LCAs, etc... The quota system. I oversimplified it too much, but effectively for an employee the most important requirement is a bachelor's degree or equivalent.

ergocoder 5y ago

The disadvantages are meh. This is like saying "if tim cook and anybody who is smarter than me doesn't exist, I will be apple ceo and earn 200m a year.". If these smart people didn't work for apple, apple wouldn't exist in the first place. I can assure you h1b wage depression is minimal. We of course should get rid of h1b abuse. There is always an improvement. But we should not get fewer h1b people...

mxd3 5y ago
I suggest you look into the companies that are actually hiring and getting the bulk of the H1B visas. Because it may surprise you, it's not top tier tech engineers at Facebook, Apple, etc. It's companies like InfoSys and Cognizant. [1] The business model of these companies is to provide workers at a cost below what it costs in the US. This business model is a big reason why they are so successful. At scale these companies drive cost, and wages down. US workers then need to accept lower paying jobs. The worst thing about it is the wage depression here is most felt by the low-tier tech workers, not the well paid SV engineers. And they don't always follow the rules either. Infosys and Cognizant have been caught up in legal trouble for visa fraud. [2] [1] https://www.uscis.gov/tools/reports-and-studies/h-1b-employer-data-hub?state=All&fy=All&naics=All&items_per_page=10&order=field_h1b_int_app&sort=desc https://www.uscis.gov/tools/reports-and-studies/h-1b-employe... [2] https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1347409-usa-v-infosys.html https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1347409-usa-v-infosy...
- 29athrowaway 5y ago
  TCS and Infosys should had been kicked out of the H-1B system long ago. They are fraudulent as fuck. - They realized the quota system is based on the physical action of taking random entries from the mail. So what they did was submit the same application multiple times, so that their H-1B applicants had a higher chance, to the detriment of other applicants. - They forced their employees to sign a power of attorney and kept all money from the employee tax returns. They suck. They should be sued to oblivion until bankruptcy.

gremloni 5y ago

You have to go through and pass an employment interview for a job 3x the average American wage at the minimum. That’s a hefty requirement already and probably better than any standardized test for gauging ability.