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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

#281

Post by arkem »

trishume wrote: post #243
winter_blue wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> as a Canadian who may want to move to the US You can move to the US on the TN visa (as long as NAFTA is still valid). I've met programmers from Canada and Mexico who are on the TN visa.

Definitely aware of this, however the TN visa doesn't have a path to a green card. A common strategy for Canadians is to come in on a TN visa and then repeatedly apply for an H1-B and hope to win the lottery while you are there. It basically just allows you to start work immediately instead of having to wait for an H1-B.

I know a few people who went TN to green card, and I myself went E-3 (a non-immigrant visa) to green card. It made the process more convoluted and risky but in my mind was way better than playing the H1-B lottery.

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

#282

Post by pastefka »

Just to add to the conversation: recently, I analyzed some of the H-1B data and concluded that if you want to get an H-1B visa, you should get your visa certified in March via Indian outsourcing companies that are located in New York City, hire programmer analysts, pay out a base salary above $75,000. You can find the article here: https://www.datacamp.com/community/blog/data-h1b-visa .

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

#283

Post by toephu2 »

readhn wrote: post #22

Whoever is working on the bill is disconnected from reality and the damage it is doing long term here. Why's everyone so focused on IT? Everyone can learn how to code, it's not a real science.. Oh it's hacker news :) Now walk into any major university science department. See who the newly minted PhD students are in biology, chemistry, physics, math ... Most are foreigners. This bill will send them home after they gra…

"Everyone can learn how to code, it's not a real science." Yes but not everyone who learns to code can get a job coding. Not everyone can get into Google or Facebook just cause they learned to code. The software engineering interviews don't test your ability to code, they test your ability to problem solve w/ data structures & algorithms.

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

#284

Post by jugg1es »

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…

Thank for the summary and link. I was about to have a heart attack.

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

#285

Post by toephu2 »

webmaven wrote: post #31

This is a good but flawed move. In very high COL places like NYC and SFBA $130k is barely a living wage unless you can put up with a 2h commute. OTOH, in low COL markets (eg. KC) this eliminates H1-Bs from consideration for most entry-level positions. For many markets in the middle (an example doesn't come to mind, perhaps Los Angeles?) where $130k+ is a decent salary for an entry-level position this new minimum work…

"SFBA $130k is barely a living wage unless you can put up with a 2h commute." Goto craigslist, look for single bedroom in a house or apartment. You can easily find a place for < $1700/mo not in the ghetto. People like you (and the media) always like to blow things out of proportion (sensationalism) but never actually look at any real data.

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

#286

Post by general_ai »

Rumor is, Trump will issue a EO that is much smarter than this bill. In particular it's supposed to replace the lottery system with a priority queue, in which priority will be determined by salary. Combined with a cap, this will lead the system to letting only the most expensive workers through. Not ideal, but better than any alternative I have heard of so far.

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

#287

Post by hkarthik »

reacharavindh wrote: post #34

Isn't this discriminatory on states with lower cost of living? 130k is not very high in Bay area for big companies and non entry level engineers.. However, at emerging cities in the US, that may be unattainable until say director positions for now.. So government powers more immigration and bias to CA at the cost of other cities developing cities? (Disclaimer) H1B from big co in the east coast, senior SE making 110k.…

This will cause a housing crashing in the lower cost of living places like Texas where an H1B holder routinely makes less than $80K a year, but can still afford to buy brand new homes in the best school districts. Their employers will not able to hike their wages and will likely turn to outsourcing firms or open offices in the coasts where there is more qualified talent available.

It will get fixed in about 4-5 years when enrollments into tech degrees catches up with the job market.

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

#288

Post by readhn »

dukeluke wrote: post #262
readhn wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The abuse of h1b program by IT firms is the issue that has to be separated out and resolved on its own. There is no reason why we should send a freshly graduated physics scientist back to Uganda or whatever because he can't find an employer willing to pay him/her some abstract 130k salary straight out of school (which is A LOT OF MONEY). Again, when I hire - I do it strictly based on skills and experience. If I have…

I don't see any reason why h1b visa holders shouldn't have a high bar to reach. The whole point of the program is to bring the best of the best, not the average or mediocre, which could likely be filled by an American somewhere.

130k salary is absurdly high amount of money for people outside of IT and finance. Stop living in a bubble. It will price out a lot of talent that will be forced to leave the country. Wich is a huge mistake for American society.

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

#289

Post by winter_blue »

trishume wrote: post #243
winter_blue wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> as a Canadian who may want to move to the US You can move to the US on the TN visa (as long as NAFTA is still valid). I've met programmers from Canada and Mexico who are on the TN visa.

Definitely aware of this, however the TN visa doesn't have a path to a green card. A common strategy for Canadians is to come in on a TN visa and then repeatedly apply for an H1-B and hope to win the lottery while you are there. It basically just allows you to start work immediately instead of having to wait for an H1-B.

Actually, green card applications are completely separate from whatever visa (TN or H-1B) you have. The H-1B does not give you a path to the green card.

The only benefit of an H-1B over TN is that it is a dual-intent visa, and you are guaranteed to not have "immigrant intent"-related trouble at the border. However, there was a guideline issued by the CBP back in 2008 that stated that a pending employment-based green card application (I-140) would not alone be considered as immigrant intent: https://www.hooyou.com/news/news021709tn.html Quoted:

"A recently published authoritative letter from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP) addressing the TN nonimmigrant visa category offers new and definite insight on the CBP’s policy for determining immigrant intent. In the letter, dated April 2008, the Executive Director of Admissibility and Passenger Protection Programs details clearly that filing an immigrant petition (I-140) alone is not automatically considered a demonstration of immigrant intent, and aliens with pending I-140s may still be admitted into US with a TN visa."

I don't know if that policy is still in effect, but if it is, then you have nothing to fear, and your employer can apply for your green card. The programmer from Mexico on TN that I knew actually had USCIS approval of his TN status. For TN status, USCIS approval isn't necessary, but it helps avoid problems at the border even further: https://www.tnvisabulletin.com/nafta-tn-blog/2012/4/12/cbp-m...

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