4 ms·

The only thing they need to address regarding H-1B visas, and L-1A/B visas for that matter, is the absence of employer caps. There is a big difference between

The only thing they need to address regarding H-1B visas, and L-1A/B visas for that matter, is the absence of employer caps. There is a big difference between the startup co-founder and the foreign talent recruited by FAANG companies, and the crap IT consultancy companies pull all the time.

atonse 3y ago
Won't they just create tons of shell companies then to get around the caps?
- manuelabeledo 3y ago
  Then that should be illegal as well.
- tomohelix 3y ago
  Not if the cap is tied to total employee. A shell company with 100 registered employees can't sponsor more than 10 people for example. They can't get around this as there are tax records of who being paid by whom. This would force company to hire American, reduce fraud, and still being favorable to the big boys paying the lobbying fees. Win win for all who matters (not specifically the regular folks, if they do, it is accidental...)
  - sokoloff 3y ago
    Why would it force employers to hire Americans if it's tied to total employees? 90 offshore and 10 H1-B employees is still only 10% H1-B. The entire premise of the H1-B program is when there is a shortage of qualified/available domestic labor. Turning around and tying hiring in the program to having 9x as many domestic employees seems like it's so counter to that notion that not even the government would create such an inanely contradictory policy.
thmsths 3y ago
I thought there was something like that already (although much softer), if a company is deemed H1B dependent any additional application for an H1B becomes harder.
- manuelabeledo 3y ago
  Surprisingly enough, H-1B visas are still assigned by lottery, which is arguably the worst imaginable way of doing it.
burnte 3y ago
There's a lot more than that they need to address. Fake job listings with rock bottom salaries so they can claim they can't find US workers, paying H1B people far below market value, job-shopping in personal networks when someone loses an H1B job (favor trading to get a "job" while they find another real job to keep their H1B status) are all huge issues. Another issue is employers using H2B status against employees to extract unpaid labor, lower wages, and unethical behavior or else they'll be fired and reported instantly.
- manuelabeledo 3y ago
  > Fake job listings with rock bottom salaries so they can claim they can't find US workers, paying H1B people far below market value... H-1B salaries are public [0], so it is easy to debunk this. The minimum prevailing wage for the area and location is in place for this very reason. > ... job-shopping in personal networks when someone loses an H1B job ... If anything, this demonstrates that the current system is inhumane, and it should be more lenient towards H-1B holders. [0] https://h1bdata.info https://h1bdata.info
  - burnte 3y ago
    > H-1B salaries are public [0], so it is easy to debunk this. > The minimum prevailing wage for the area and location is in place for this very reason. Unfortunately wage fraud and theft are real things that happen. You don't have to believe me, you can find buckets of H1B holders who will verify this. I've seen it myself, I've been in IT for 30 years and seen personally, many times, everything I listed in my comment.
    - manuelabeledo 3y ago
      I would like to see some concrete proof of this, though. I myself was a visa holder not long ago. Outside of Internet forums, I haven’t been able to find anyone who would claim that visa wage fraud exist.

atonse 3y ago

Won't they just create tons of shell companies then to get around the caps?

manuelabeledo 3y ago
Then that should be illegal as well.
tomohelix 3y ago
Not if the cap is tied to total employee. A shell company with 100 registered employees can't sponsor more than 10 people for example. They can't get around this as there are tax records of who being paid by whom. This would force company to hire American, reduce fraud, and still being favorable to the big boys paying the lobbying fees. Win win for all who matters (not specifically the regular folks, if they do, it is accidental...)
- sokoloff 3y ago
  Why would it force employers to hire Americans if it's tied to total employees? 90 offshore and 10 H1-B employees is still only 10% H1-B. The entire premise of the H1-B program is when there is a shortage of qualified/available domestic labor. Turning around and tying hiring in the program to having 9x as many domestic employees seems like it's so counter to that notion that not even the government would create such an inanely contradictory policy.

thmsths 3y ago

I thought there was something like that already (although much softer), if a company is deemed H1B dependent any additional application for an H1B becomes harder.

manuelabeledo 3y ago
Surprisingly enough, H-1B visas are still assigned by lottery, which is arguably the worst imaginable way of doing it.

burnte 3y ago

There's a lot more than that they need to address. Fake job listings with rock bottom salaries so they can claim they can't find US workers, paying H1B people far below market value, job-shopping in personal networks when someone loses an H1B job (favor trading to get a "job" while they find another real job to keep their H1B status) are all huge issues. Another issue is employers using H2B status against employees to extract unpaid labor, lower wages, and unethical behavior or else they'll be fired and reported instantly.

manuelabeledo 3y ago
> Fake job listings with rock bottom salaries so they can claim they can't find US workers, paying H1B people far below market value... H-1B salaries are public [0], so it is easy to debunk this. The minimum prevailing wage for the area and location is in place for this very reason. > ... job-shopping in personal networks when someone loses an H1B job ... If anything, this demonstrates that the current system is inhumane, and it should be more lenient towards H-1B holders. [0] https://h1bdata.info https://h1bdata.info
- burnte 3y ago
  > H-1B salaries are public [0], so it is easy to debunk this. > The minimum prevailing wage for the area and location is in place for this very reason. Unfortunately wage fraud and theft are real things that happen. You don't have to believe me, you can find buckets of H1B holders who will verify this. I've seen it myself, I've been in IT for 30 years and seen personally, many times, everything I listed in my comment.
  - manuelabeledo 3y ago
    I would like to see some concrete proof of this, though. I myself was a visa holder not long ago. Outside of Internet forums, I haven’t been able to find anyone who would claim that visa wage fraud exist.