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I agree... (was on H1). The core problem is that the sponsoring company is in control. Control needs to be moved to the candidate (worker). The H1 should not be

I agree... (was on H1). The core problem is that the sponsoring company is in control. Control needs to be moved to the candidate (worker). The H1 should not be tied to the employer, but to the candidate, and they should be able to switch employers by registering their new employer with the DHS (HR of the new company and employee act on signing day). H1'ers should be free to move at will and immediately after entering the country (or at most, a 3-4 month wait). Most of the time the consultancies put H1'ers on the bench waiting for a job... i.e., they over subscribe H1-B's every year. There needs to be an exponential charge to avoid over subscribing tactics... perhaps the app fees double (and keep doubling) for each additional candidate past 2.

nostromo 12y ago
Allowing H1Bs to bounce around (unless each job they take can't be filled by the domestic workforce) would violate the intent of the law. "The intent of the H-1B provisions is to help employers who cannot otherwise obtain needed business skills and abilities from the U.S. workforce by authorizing the temporary employment of qualified individuals who are not otherwise authorized to work in the United States." http://www.dol.gov/whd/immigration/h1b.htm http://www.dol.gov/whd/immigration/h1b.htm
- acveilleux 12y ago
  In practice no one cares about intent of the law, it's about exact wording, jurisprudence and cost/benefit of the penalties.
  - xanderjanz 12y ago
    I care.
- jahmaiosullivan 12y ago
  H1Bs need to be allowed to bounce around because this is the core of the problem! Everyone seems to love to skirt around the real issue. The real issue is that people are brought here and they can't go anywhere regardless of how bad the system sucks except back home. In most cases the places they are coming from are in an even worst state so we stay here instead. At least other things aren't so bad. I came to the united states on an H1B and yes I was paid significantly less than what I thought I was worth and also well below what US citizens and GC holders were paid for a number of years. It was a tough time for me and I had 2 choices then, either go back home to a non-existent economy and get paid even less doing some menial job or wait it out with my crappy paycheck until I get a green card. If I moved to any other company my green card process would restart so guess what I was stuck. If H1Bs were allowed to move around, body shops would disappear overnight. Bigger companies that I worked at paid through their teeth for H1Bs but they were usually hired as consultants. I work at a really big company now (won't say the name) and there is no way we will hire someone full-time who can't pass our interview loop regardless of how much we are saving. It's too costly in other areas and almost impossible to fire them for non-performance. But we'll take a chance on hiring an H1B contractor that a body shop supplies. We pay the body shop exorbitant sums of money, body shop pays employees a pittance.
- thro1237 12y ago
  Companies are supposed to pay an H1-B workers the prevailing wage. But the fact is that real wages are a very wide range that would depend on your exact skills and competence. So companies can get away with paying an H1-B worker less than his real market value and the worker cannot easily switch jobs. If the worker could easily switch jobs, then there is no real incentive for the company to hire a worker and pay him lower wages (). Because, very soon he will switch to another company that pays him his real wage. The problem with the H1-B system is that the law is based on the assumption that fare wages can be enforced by statute as opposed to by ensuring competition. () One can argue that large companies might have incentives to bring in more H1-Bs to increase the overall labor pool, which in turn will reduce wages for everyone. This can partially be offset by having high fees for H1-B workers.
cylinder 12y ago
If the candidate is so supremely talented they can get an O-1 pretty easily. Kind of ends this "H1B is for talent" argument quickly.
- guyzero 12y ago
  An O-1 requires "extraordinary ability by sustained national or international acclaim and must be coming temporarily to the United States to continue work in the area of extraordinary ability." How many engineers have "international acclaim"?
  - cylinder 12y ago
    The O-1 is not as stringent as people think. >Extraordinary ability in the fields of science, education, business or athletics means a level of expertise indicating that the person is one of the small percentage who has risen to the very top of the field of endeavor. I am confident I can get one for a truly talented hacker or computer scientist.
    - raverbashing 12y ago
      What would be needed exactly?

nostromo 12y ago

Allowing H1Bs to bounce around (unless each job they take can't be filled by the domestic workforce) would violate the intent of the law. "The intent of the H-1B provisions is to help employers who cannot otherwise obtain needed business skills and abilities from the U.S. workforce by authorizing the temporary employment of qualified individuals who are not otherwise authorized to work in the United States." http://www.dol.gov/whd/immigration/h1b.htm http://www.dol.gov/whd/immigration/h1b.htm

acveilleux 12y ago
In practice no one cares about intent of the law, it's about exact wording, jurisprudence and cost/benefit of the penalties.
- xanderjanz 12y ago
  I care.
jahmaiosullivan 12y ago
H1Bs need to be allowed to bounce around because this is the core of the problem! Everyone seems to love to skirt around the real issue. The real issue is that people are brought here and they can't go anywhere regardless of how bad the system sucks except back home. In most cases the places they are coming from are in an even worst state so we stay here instead. At least other things aren't so bad. I came to the united states on an H1B and yes I was paid significantly less than what I thought I was worth and also well below what US citizens and GC holders were paid for a number of years. It was a tough time for me and I had 2 choices then, either go back home to a non-existent economy and get paid even less doing some menial job or wait it out with my crappy paycheck until I get a green card. If I moved to any other company my green card process would restart so guess what I was stuck. If H1Bs were allowed to move around, body shops would disappear overnight. Bigger companies that I worked at paid through their teeth for H1Bs but they were usually hired as consultants. I work at a really big company now (won't say the name) and there is no way we will hire someone full-time who can't pass our interview loop regardless of how much we are saving. It's too costly in other areas and almost impossible to fire them for non-performance. But we'll take a chance on hiring an H1B contractor that a body shop supplies. We pay the body shop exorbitant sums of money, body shop pays employees a pittance.
thro1237 12y ago
Companies are supposed to pay an H1-B workers the prevailing wage. But the fact is that real wages are a very wide range that would depend on your exact skills and competence. So companies can get away with paying an H1-B worker less than his real market value and the worker cannot easily switch jobs. If the worker could easily switch jobs, then there is no real incentive for the company to hire a worker and pay him lower wages (). Because, very soon he will switch to another company that pays him his real wage. The problem with the H1-B system is that the law is based on the assumption that fare wages can be enforced by statute as opposed to by ensuring competition. () One can argue that large companies might have incentives to bring in more H1-Bs to increase the overall labor pool, which in turn will reduce wages for everyone. This can partially be offset by having high fees for H1-B workers.

cylinder 12y ago

If the candidate is so supremely talented they can get an O-1 pretty easily. Kind of ends this "H1B is for talent" argument quickly.

guyzero 12y ago
An O-1 requires "extraordinary ability by sustained national or international acclaim and must be coming temporarily to the United States to continue work in the area of extraordinary ability." How many engineers have "international acclaim"?
- cylinder 12y ago
  The O-1 is not as stringent as people think. >Extraordinary ability in the fields of science, education, business or athletics means a level of expertise indicating that the person is one of the small percentage who has risen to the very top of the field of endeavor. I am confident I can get one for a truly talented hacker or computer scientist.
  - raverbashing 12y ago
    What would be needed exactly?