3 ms·

That'd be fine if the applicant pool was first sorted by profession and geography and like compared against like. But how do you decide the distribution of visa

That'd be fine if the applicant pool was first sorted by profession and geography and like compared against like. But how do you decide the distribution of visas across those sub-groups?

jacobolus 12y ago
The current process has the advantage of being (somewhat) simple, but it clearly gets gamed in ways that lead to far-from-optimal outcomes. Maybe figuring out a better alternative system would be a bit complicated, but it seems like it should be possible.
- bradleyjg 12y ago
  The current system isn't simple. The H1B is only one non-immigrant visa category. There's an entire alphabet soup of other categories, and that's not even getting into the permanent resident visas. I certainly agree that the system could be rationalized, I've got a lot of my own ideas, but most reform in this area must pass through Congress. I've been paying attention to this issue for over a decade and half now, and one thing I've learned is that there isn't much enthusiasm on either side of the political aisle for major changes to the legal immigration system. Every once in a while a strong lobbying group will get a tweak or added numbers to a particular program, but the real political interest is the stock and flow of un- and semi- skilled workers from Mexico and Latin American.
gatehouse 12y ago
Price
davidw 12y ago
For that matter, who picks the number of "how many H1B visas should we have", based on what criteria? Is there research backing up this number? Statistics? I'd be much more willing to let people decide on their own: http://johnhcochrane.blogspot.it/2014/06/the-optimal-number-of-immigrants.html http://johnhcochrane.blogspot.it/2014/06/the-optimal-number-...
- codeonfire 12y ago
  I'm fairly sure that is the US congress and their criteria is how many minority votes they think they can get during an election year.
  - davidw 12y ago
    Because H1B's are about 'minorities'? Doesn't make much sense to me.

That'd be fine if the applicant pool was first sorted by profession and geography and like compared against like. But how do you decide the distribution of visas across those sub-groups?

jacobolus 12y ago

The current process has the advantage of being (somewhat) simple, but it clearly gets gamed in ways that lead to far-from-optimal outcomes. Maybe figuring out a better alternative system would be a bit complicated, but it seems like it should be possible.

bradleyjg 12y ago
The current system isn't simple. The H1B is only one non-immigrant visa category. There's an entire alphabet soup of other categories, and that's not even getting into the permanent resident visas. I certainly agree that the system could be rationalized, I've got a lot of my own ideas, but most reform in this area must pass through Congress. I've been paying attention to this issue for over a decade and half now, and one thing I've learned is that there isn't much enthusiasm on either side of the political aisle for major changes to the legal immigration system. Every once in a while a strong lobbying group will get a tweak or added numbers to a particular program, but the real political interest is the stock and flow of un- and semi- skilled workers from Mexico and Latin American.

gatehouse 12y ago

Price

davidw 12y ago

For that matter, who picks the number of "how many H1B visas should we have", based on what criteria? Is there research backing up this number? Statistics? I'd be much more willing to let people decide on their own: http://johnhcochrane.blogspot.it/2014/06/the-optimal-number-of-immigrants.html http://johnhcochrane.blogspot.it/2014/06/the-optimal-number-...

codeonfire 12y ago
I'm fairly sure that is the US congress and their criteria is how many minority votes they think they can get during an election year.
- davidw 12y ago
  Because H1B's are about 'minorities'? Doesn't make much sense to me.