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No one seems to realize how hard it is to immigrate to the United States. If you don't have a close relative (parent, sibling, or child) and are not fleeing per

No one seems to realize how hard it is to immigrate to the United States. If you don't have a close relative (parent, sibling, or child) and are not fleeing persecution, it is quite incredibly hard to immigrate to the United States. The pathway to a green card (permanent residency), for nearly everyone else (i.e. skilled immigrants) involves getting an H-1B or L-1 first, and then asking their employer to sponsor them for permanent residency. So when I hear anti-H1B rants, what I'm hearing is hatred towards immigrants and immigration in general, that seem to be coming from people who have forgotten their own heritage.

toomuchtodo 12y ago
> So when I hear anti-H1B rants, what I'm hearing is dirty filthy immigrant hatred coming from people who have forgotten their own heritage. I don't think that's the case at all. I think its workers who have seen the job situation get progressively worse in the US over the last few decades, and are trying all avenues to prevent it from getting worse (in this case, depressed wages). If workers had more protections (as it is in other developed/first world countries, for example), I don't think you'd see such a strong backlash against H-1B visas.
maxerickson 12y ago
The H-1B is explicitly temporary. It might be a way to get your feet on the ground here, but it simply is not intended to be part of a path to citizenship.
- ak217 12y ago
  That's not the case in practice. Many H-1B holders apply for permanent resident status (which after 5 years allows citizenship) via the employment-based immigration process (http://immigrationroad.com/green-card/immigration-flowchart-roadmap-to-green-card.php http://immigrationroad.com/green-card/immigration-flowchart-...). There are immigration law firms that specialize in maximizing your chances of success in this process, and many large tech employers have a support mechanism for this.
- winter_blue 12y ago
  I meant a pathway to immigrate to the United States. Yes, the H-1B is non-immgirant visa. My point was that if you want to immigrate (i.e. get a green card) based on your skills, the pathway (toward gaining permanent residency) in most cases involves getting an H-1B or L-1 first. Most of these workers strongly desire to immigrate to the Untied States on a permanent basis, and the truly skilled ones (I'm not talking about ones hired by outsourcing giants) work really hard (and usually get paid really well), and contribute significantly to the company (and as such, to the United States as a whole).
  - maxerickson 12y ago
    My mistake on immigrate vs citizenship. It doesn't really change the point that the H-1B was created to be temporary. (And certainly the temporary status factors into the fact that they exist and how many are granted and all of that stuff. FWIW, I think the U.S. immigration policy is a disaster, we should be letting far more people in and looking for ways that we can help to improve the situation in Central America (because presumably that will reduce the most common sort of illegal entry).)
- cldellow 12y ago
  I think it's more nuanced than that. The H1-B is a "dual-intent" visa -- you can be on it while pursuing citizenship. This differs from the TN status available via NAFTA, for example. Additionally, the H1-B has a 6-year limit in theory (3-year limit, renewable once), but can be extended past that limit if the holder is at a certain stage in the permanent resident application.

toomuchtodo 12y ago

> So when I hear anti-H1B rants, what I'm hearing is dirty filthy immigrant hatred coming from people who have forgotten their own heritage. I don't think that's the case at all. I think its workers who have seen the job situation get progressively worse in the US over the last few decades, and are trying all avenues to prevent it from getting worse (in this case, depressed wages). If workers had more protections (as it is in other developed/first world countries, for example), I don't think you'd see such a strong backlash against H-1B visas.

maxerickson 12y ago

The H-1B is explicitly temporary. It might be a way to get your feet on the ground here, but it simply is not intended to be part of a path to citizenship.

ak217 12y ago
That's not the case in practice. Many H-1B holders apply for permanent resident status (which after 5 years allows citizenship) via the employment-based immigration process (http://immigrationroad.com/green-card/immigration-flowchart-roadmap-to-green-card.php http://immigrationroad.com/green-card/immigration-flowchart-...). There are immigration law firms that specialize in maximizing your chances of success in this process, and many large tech employers have a support mechanism for this.
winter_blue 12y ago
I meant a pathway to immigrate to the United States. Yes, the H-1B is non-immgirant visa. My point was that if you want to immigrate (i.e. get a green card) based on your skills, the pathway (toward gaining permanent residency) in most cases involves getting an H-1B or L-1 first. Most of these workers strongly desire to immigrate to the Untied States on a permanent basis, and the truly skilled ones (I'm not talking about ones hired by outsourcing giants) work really hard (and usually get paid really well), and contribute significantly to the company (and as such, to the United States as a whole).
- maxerickson 12y ago
  My mistake on immigrate vs citizenship. It doesn't really change the point that the H-1B was created to be temporary. (And certainly the temporary status factors into the fact that they exist and how many are granted and all of that stuff. FWIW, I think the U.S. immigration policy is a disaster, we should be letting far more people in and looking for ways that we can help to improve the situation in Central America (because presumably that will reduce the most common sort of illegal entry).)
cldellow 12y ago
I think it's more nuanced than that. The H1-B is a "dual-intent" visa -- you can be on it while pursuing citizenship. This differs from the TN status available via NAFTA, for example. Additionally, the H1-B has a 6-year limit in theory (3-year limit, renewable once), but can be extended past that limit if the holder is at a certain stage in the permanent resident application.