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Wow.. it is evident that most of the commenters here do not really understand 1. The H1B process and/or 2. What the author of the techcrunch article is saying.
by nanijoe 17y ago
Wow.. it is evident that most of the commenters here do not really understand 1. The H1B process and/or 2. What the author of the techcrunch article is saying.
In a nutshell, and H1B visa is attached to a company, so if you have one, you cannot go work for another company or even start up your own.
What the author is advocating is that the president/government lift these restrictions, so that the skilled foreigners who already live in the USA can go ahead and help the economy grow.
Of course lifting the restrictions would probably mean that employers will be less willing to sponsor people for H1B visas, knowing that they can walk away anytime they please.
- tnovelli 17y agoRight on - H1B is akin to indentured servitude. It's hard for the rest of us to compete with a captive work force.
- cema 17y agoI am aware of this argument, but it has always seemed strange to me. Surely slave labor is not efficient.
- seldo 17y agoTo be completely accurate, H1-Bs are attached to an existing company. You can transfer your H1-B to another company, as long as that company is will to spend time (a couple of months) and money (several thousand dollars) to sponsor your H1-B. You cannot, however, start your own company. H1-Bs are, as the blog post says, a huge barrier to employee mobility and the creation of startups. Another common type of visa in the valley is the L1. Big companies like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft, who have foreign subsidiaries, hire people in those countries. After they have worked in the foreign office for a year they can apply for the L1, which is an "internal transfer". This allows them to work in the US, but only for that company. You cannot ever work another company than the original sponsor of your L1. This really is indentured servitude (though of course it's usually quite well paid).