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Fuck the H1b visa. Yes I understand that we have created a huge GC backlog by immigrating here in large numbers but that doesn't mean we should be dragged aroun

Fuck the H1b visa. Yes I understand that we have created a huge GC backlog by immigrating here in large numbers but that doesn't mean we should be dragged around like a toy. This is sadly the impression I've formed these days. Our entire lives here revolve around that visa and we could basically be holding on to it for 30 to 50 years before we can get a GC lol. In the meantime, maintaining our driver's licenses, being able to enter/leave the country, being questioned at the airports, having to constantly renew crap, waiting for eons to change employer, staying disconnected from the family are all common things to expect. To add to this, there are no appointments for Visa Stampings back in the home country because of which many people dropped their travel plans; and USCIS doesn't give a damn about it. Life is more or less crippled at this point. Now, would all this still be outweighed by a First World living quality? In the beginning when I was young I used to think "yes". But I've realized lately that it's a big "no". Days are making me think about my plan to move back out to home country or our peaceful northern neighbor.

nonamechicken 5y ago
> In the beginning when I was young I used to think "yes". But I've realized lately that it's a big "no". Exactly my thoughts. The poor quality air or the mad traffic in Indian cities feels a lot better than the insane stress the visa situations put me through the last few years.
saimiam 5y ago
Man, you said it. I hated that stuff when I was on an H1B. Cannot emphasise how much nicer life is once you are no longer holding out for that (apparently) magical Green Card. As of date, apparently my GC petition date is current but I'll be damned if I'm going back to the US to stand in line, hat in hand for slip of paper telling me I'm allowed to live normally again.
- princevegeta89 5y ago
  Well, I can't even picture myself retiring in this country. It is too capitalistic to be that magical utopia. Enough with the paperwork, it's about time we realized that we don't have to be a slave to the visa and think about freedom. I mean to say "free"dom
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
rayiner 5y ago
Americans want H1Bs to be temporary workers who go back home, not immigrate permanently. That’s why the statute has “temporary” plastered all over it and has since it was written in the 1950s. That’s why the latest Democrat-backed reform bill still has temporary prominently right in the title of the Act: > To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to reform and reduce fraud and abuse in certain visa programs for aliens working temporarily in the United States, and for other purposes. For a long time, desis treated the H1-B system as a permanent immigration visa, and Americans looked the other way. My family came here in 1989 under the old H1 program. That’s no longer true. Americans feel that the country is full and will increasingly be enforcing the letter of the law. Desis should internalize that. Unless they’re eligible for a real immigrant visa (in America, the main one is the family reunification visa) they should either go to Canada or Australia, which need people, or help improve India.
- nonamechicken 5y ago
  > Americans feel that the country is full and will increasingly be enforcing the letter of the law. I used to think the same, that the Americans don't really want us. But when the corona pandemic related lockdowns happened, and US banned people from India, US still allowed Indian college students. So there must be some need. These students are not coming to US for education, they are coming here to work, and get green card and become a citizen. https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2021/05/03/us-restricts-travel-india-students-eligible-exemptions https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2021/05/03/us-rest... > For a long time, d###s treated the H1-B system as a permanent immigration visa...D###s should internalize that. And that is why I think posts like this are important. So that Indians who are considering moving to US know the ground reality, and make informed decisions rather than regret it later in life.
  - 0des 5y ago
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
whydid 5y ago
It's an abusive system that only benefits large corporations.
- pm90 5y ago
  Yep. Modern slavery in disguise.
revel 5y ago
There is no political will to fight for immigrants; skilled or otherwise. Without votes or the organized capital needed to lobby congress the immigration situation is only likely to get worse. The right wing's view of immigration has morphed over the past decade from "only skilled" to "no immigration at all" and the left has capitulated completely. This shift in attitudes towards immigration isn't unique to America but it's infuriating and depressing to see. Immigration is America's policy crown jewel. It's madness to see Europe's stagnation and think "yes, that's what I want for this country"
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

nonamechicken 5y ago

> In the beginning when I was young I used to think "yes". But I've realized lately that it's a big "no". Exactly my thoughts. The poor quality air or the mad traffic in Indian cities feels a lot better than the insane stress the visa situations put me through the last few years.

saimiam 5y ago

Man, you said it. I hated that stuff when I was on an H1B. Cannot emphasise how much nicer life is once you are no longer holding out for that (apparently) magical Green Card. As of date, apparently my GC petition date is current but I'll be damned if I'm going back to the US to stand in line, hat in hand for slip of paper telling me I'm allowed to live normally again.

princevegeta89 5y ago
Well, I can't even picture myself retiring in this country. It is too capitalistic to be that magical utopia. Enough with the paperwork, it's about time we realized that we don't have to be a slave to the visa and think about freedom. I mean to say "free"dom

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

rayiner 5y ago

Americans want H1Bs to be temporary workers who go back home, not immigrate permanently. That’s why the statute has “temporary” plastered all over it and has since it was written in the 1950s. That’s why the latest Democrat-backed reform bill still has temporary prominently right in the title of the Act: > To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to reform and reduce fraud and abuse in certain visa programs for aliens working temporarily in the United States, and for other purposes. For a long time, desis treated the H1-B system as a permanent immigration visa, and Americans looked the other way. My family came here in 1989 under the old H1 program. That’s no longer true. Americans feel that the country is full and will increasingly be enforcing the letter of the law. Desis should internalize that. Unless they’re eligible for a real immigrant visa (in America, the main one is the family reunification visa) they should either go to Canada or Australia, which need people, or help improve India.

nonamechicken 5y ago
> Americans feel that the country is full and will increasingly be enforcing the letter of the law. I used to think the same, that the Americans don't really want us. But when the corona pandemic related lockdowns happened, and US banned people from India, US still allowed Indian college students. So there must be some need. These students are not coming to US for education, they are coming here to work, and get green card and become a citizen. https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2021/05/03/us-restricts-travel-india-students-eligible-exemptions https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2021/05/03/us-rest... > For a long time, d###s treated the H1-B system as a permanent immigration visa...D###s should internalize that. And that is why I think posts like this are important. So that Indians who are considering moving to US know the ground reality, and make informed decisions rather than regret it later in life.
- 0des 5y ago
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]

whydid 5y ago

It's an abusive system that only benefits large corporations.

pm90 5y ago
Yep. Modern slavery in disguise.

revel 5y ago

There is no political will to fight for immigrants; skilled or otherwise. Without votes or the organized capital needed to lobby congress the immigration situation is only likely to get worse. The right wing's view of immigration has morphed over the past decade from "only skilled" to "no immigration at all" and the left has capitulated completely. This shift in attitudes towards immigration isn't unique to America but it's infuriating and depressing to see. Immigration is America's policy crown jewel. It's madness to see Europe's stagnation and think "yes, that's what I want for this country"

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]