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New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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Re: New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

#221

Post by Eridrus »

pkd wrote: post #10
hocuspocus wrote: post #7

Color me surprised, I commented on many related threads recently but this sounds actually pretty good! $130k is maybe a little high for seed stage startups but given that we're talking about relocating engineers to the most expensive region in the world, I believe it's fair. And the path from F-1 to Green Card will solve companies taking advantage of people on OPT status, at least partially.

Thing is that the whole of US isn't Silicon Valley or Seattle. Startups in upcoming hubs like Portland and Boulder will suffer(sic) because the salary requirements are too high for them to satisfy given the living costs. It basically means that the only companies who are gonna be able to hire through H1Bs are the big cos or unicorns.

Startups in Portland, etc, are trying to arbitrage their low cost of living, which is great, but the fact that the companies in SF, etc can pay more shows that they're providing a greater economic benefit and should probably get the.immigrants that can justify such a salary.

Re: New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

#222

Post by PhaseLockk »

Vampires123433 wrote: post #189
Retric wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

H-1B was not setup as a path for graduates to stay in the US. It was intended to allow highly skilled workers in and has been gamed since then to do all kinds of things. That said, I think a permissive immigration policy is in our intrests, but H-1B is a poor basis for such a policy.

This. F1 students are not American citizens and are not entitled to an immigration pathway through employment. They are on a student visa with the right to study at an American university.

This is true, but on the whole immigrant college graduates are typically a boon to an economy, not a drag. It's in our best interest to keep these people here, rather than shipping them back home.

Re: New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

#223

Post by foldr »

mhurron wrote: post #151
theonemind wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You quote the part that explains it. It looks like it might affect him as someone who might move to the US at some point. It might affect him. Large, successful insurance companies work on the notion of probability. It does bear taking into account.

A Canadian would come in under a TN visa which is not a lottery, not H1-B.

No route to permanent residency via the TN visa. With the status of NAFTA up in the air now that Trump's in power, that's potentially a pretty big deal.

Re: New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

#224

Post by 1_2__3 »

readhn wrote: post #209
samfisher83 wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do know something about the industry. A couple a of years ago Merk had a massive layoff. Basically there mission was to get rid of R&D because R&D wasn't cost effective. They would much rather just buy up startups when a drug looked promising. I think most of the other big pharmas are doing the same. I have friends who are phds doing stuff that a tech could do. Look at how many BMEs with BS degrees are getting jobs…

Who do you think is driving a lot of the research work at the biotech start ups that the Merc and others are buying up?

Independent investment? Is this a trick question?

Re: New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

#225

Post by samfisher83 »

readhn wrote: post #209
samfisher83 wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do know something about the industry. A couple a of years ago Merk had a massive layoff. Basically there mission was to get rid of R&D because R&D wasn't cost effective. They would much rather just buy up startups when a drug looked promising. I think most of the other big pharmas are doing the same. I have friends who are phds doing stuff that a tech could do. Look at how many BMEs with BS degrees are getting jobs…

Who do you think is driving a lot of the research work at the biotech start ups that the Merc and others are buying up?

I don't know that much about biotech startups. Maybe you can tell me who pays for them?

Re: New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

#226

Post by ChemicalWarfare »

itshoptx wrote: post #63

This increase in salary is not for the H1-B workers benefit; rather, it's to make hiring them more expensive so American workers will be considered first--as they should be. I would support any law that REQUIRED American companies to hire Americans first and then consider foreigners ONLY if no qualified Americans can be found in the 50 US states. If America wants to do good by her workers, she needs to put Americans…

>> I'm not opposed to immigration if it's done the old fashioned way like my dad did it. Come here, apply, wait your tenure for green card, and eventual citizenship.

How exactly do you envision for this to work? "come here" how? as a tourist? "apply for a green card" based on what grounds? etc etc.

>> hire Americans first and then consider foreigners ONLY if no qualified Americans can be found in the 50 US states.

sure, sounds good in theory. in reality though, how do you propose this actually happens? hire more gov-t bureaucrats to harass companies to make sure they went from Jacksonville to Anchorage looking for candidates lol ? what if they did happen to find someone but they don't want to relocate? etc etc. It's easy to be throwing slogans out there but reality is a bit more complex.

That said - I do agree with the fundamental intent of the proposed bill as the rampant abuse of the system by big time consulting shops is very real and needs to be addressed, but again it has to be done in a way that doesn't hurt businesses they are supposedly are trying to help.

Re: New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

#227

Post by trustfundbaby »

Well intentioned but misses the mark.

If this had been in place when I came to the US, me and many of my friends (petroleum, chemical, electrical and software engineers and possibly nurses, doctors, anesthesiologists and doctors) would have had to have left the US after getting STEM degrees here. Instead of this, just ban skilled immigration to the US and be upfront about not wanting immigrant skilled labor. Everyone will understand. It's your country.

However, if you want to fix the problem, however, let h1b workers move companies as freely as green card holders without having to "transfer" the visa from company to company, and let holders apply for a green card on their own after a year or two. Simple.

Solves the supply problem and balances the relationship between the employer and h1b holder to more closely match a normal employment relationship, not one where they hold all the cards and can literally decide your fate at a moments notice, forcing you to work for lower wages just so they can maybe .. eventually ... sponsor your green card or make you do more work than you should for the same reason.

Re: New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

#228

Post by jackweirdy »

cmurf wrote: post #196
ones_and_zeros wrote: post #25

Here is the summary straight from the horses mouth: https://lofgren.house.gov/uploadedfiles/high_skilled_bill_sx... A few points: - This does not raise the salary requirement to $130k/yr. This only applies to employers that do not want to do the extra paper work for "attestations regarding recruitment and non-displacement of U.S. workers" - It takes a "market based" allocation strategy which allows "cash bonuses and…

Bloomberg suggests this is going to get upstaged by the administration's proposed changes; but they're not really revealing any details about the draft. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-30/trump-s-n... This months old Vanity Fair article gives some insight that Trump feels there is a role for immigration policy to make it easy for foreign students getting good jobs in the U.S. and innovating here; whil…

It looks like you posted the Bloomberg link again the second time, not the Vanity Fair link

Re: New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

#229

Post by foldr »

gregw2 wrote: post #201
aianus wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not. Maybe he's assuming a stay at home wife and/or children which would be a stretch on $130k, it's true. You can live well and have savings as a single guy on $130k in both those areas.

Yes, this is an issue. On h1b your (non-citizen) wife cant legally work without getting her own working h1b or other visa which can be tricky.

I thought that this changed recently? It's now, at least theoretically, quite easy for spouses of H1B visa holders to apply for permission to work.
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