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H-1B visas mainly go to Indian outsourcing firms

economist.com

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Re: H-1B visas mainly go to Indian outsourcing firms

#261

Slightly off topic. My understanding is that for every H-1B application that is filed the US government takes a ACWIA fee that is supposed to be used for improving competitiveness of the American worker and providing scholarships. From https://www.uscis.gov/forms/h-and-l-filing-fees-form-i-129-p... "SEC. 414 Collection and use of H-1B nonimmigrant fees for scholarships for low-income math, engineering, and computer s…

Planet Money did an episode on that quite recently: http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2017/01/27/512060753/episo...

Re: H-1B visas mainly go to Indian outsourcing firms

#262
post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes they don't the Green Card even for EB-3 category are current for most countries except India, China & Mexico. Arguing on semantic grounds is frankly expressing white privilege. Just like people who argue that some segregation laws didn't explicitly mention black people. And thus were good. Even within American lawmakers the current per country system is considered a mistake and several legislations including the…

It takes years to get a green card on EB-3 (same on EB-2) if your country is Current. Most companies don't want to wait 2+ years and pay $10k in lawyer's fees.

It takes less than 6 months and even less than 3 months if you pay extra for expedite processing.

Re: H-1B visas mainly go to Indian outsourcing firms

#263
post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes they don't the Green Card even for EB-3 category are current for most countries except India, China & Mexico. Arguing on semantic grounds is frankly expressing white privilege. Just like people who argue that some segregation laws didn't explicitly mention black people. And thus were good. Even within American lawmakers the current per country system is considered a mistake and several legislations including the…

It takes years to get a green card on EB-3 (same on EB-2) if your country is Current. Most companies don't want to wait 2+ years and pay $10k in lawyer's fees.

@aub3bhat: Send me more informations about that.

The PERM process in itself takes 6 months.

Re: H-1B visas mainly go to Indian outsourcing firms

#264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Before you get all indignant, note that you're comparing a median and average, and for income distributions like these the average will skew higher. Also, Google, etc, also hire non software people from overseas, you can see them in the H-1B salary data, making less than software engineers.

Anyone have a good summary chart that shows what roles are earning how much?

Here is a list of roles at Google in Mountain View http://h1bpay.com/salaries?company=Google&city=Mountain+View...

Re: H-1B visas mainly go to Indian outsourcing firms

#265
post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>invest more into education I suggest the opposite. The reason college tuition is so high is because the government backs those loans. Remove the government backing of loans thus lessening the availability of capitol to the educational system and I think you will find it will become vastly more affordable.

> The reason college tuition is so high is because the government backs those loans. This is patently false. Which nullifies the rest of your suggestion.

https://studentloans.gov suggests otherwise. They are called subsidized loans.

More data here: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/types/loans/subsidized-unsubsid...

Re: H-1B visas mainly go to Indian outsourcing firms

#266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure if this is well known, but here's what you can do if you are not Indian or Chinese. Yes Mr. or Ms. French, you too. -Do a MS in CS or some STEM field from an accredited school. -Get a job with an employer willing to start green card process immediately (many will be willing since it means no uncertainity of H1b lottery) -Before your 3 yr OPT expires, you'll get your EAD (after doing PERM and I-140 on premium…

> EAD means no need to file for H1b. You are out of the rat race meant to keep Indians and Chinese out of USA. This is wrong. The EAD is just the Employment Authorization Document. It just says you're allowed to work and you SHOULD have it before the OPT.

aah, my bad. I meant the EAD you get after your I-140 is apprived in the GC process.

Ofcourse you need EAD to work on OPT, but thats only for the duration of your OPT

Re: H-1B visas mainly go to Indian outsourcing firms

#267
post #205
post #103

This one sentence says it all: "The Economist found that between 2012 and 2015 the three biggest Indian outsourcing firms—TCS, Wipro and Infosys—submitted over 150,000 visa applications for positions that paid a median salary of $69,500. In contrast, America’s five biggest tech firms—Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google and Microsoft—submitted just 31,000 applications, and proposed to pay their workers a median salary of…

You're comparing the average salary of all H-1B jobs (developer, accountant, analyst, etc.) to the salary of a developer. Instead, look at the average salaries for H-1B software engineers in 2016: Facebook @ Menlo Park: $152k Google @ Mountain View: $130k Apple @ Cupertino: $154k Amazon @ Seattle: $124k Microsoft @ Redmond: $120 So comparing base salary alone, these companies are definitely not underpaying their H-1B…

So by "these companies" you mean Facebook, Google, etc, because they are paying the going rate by paying $152k.

That just confirms the OPs first point, that TCS, Wipro and Infosys, with their 30,000 Visas avg. ~$70k, are massively abusing the system.

Its about time these companies were prosecuted for lying to the government:

Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001 makes it a crime to: 1) knowingly and willfully; 2) make any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or representation; 3) in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative or judicial branch of the United States.

Re: H-1B visas mainly go to Indian outsourcing firms

#268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is wrong with a race to the bottom? Less salary means more profit for businesses and/or cheaper products

I sell my labor in exchange for money, and so it's in my interest for wages to be as high as possible, if not higher.

Sure, it's in your interest for your wages to be as high as possible, but does this maximize overall welfare?

By banning competition, the H-1B person's wage and the employer's profits go down and the product price increases.

How much depends on the relative elasticities.

Isn't this richer people banning much poorer people (immigrants) from competing with them?

Re: H-1B visas mainly go to Indian outsourcing firms

#269
post #64
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

H1B applicants have to be paid prevailing wage, I wonder where the notion of cheap h1b workers comes from.

H1B applicants have to be paid prevailing wage In theory, yes. In practice, research has shown otherwise: http://www.workpermit.com/news/research-finds-us-h1b-visa-ho...

Interesting. That does not reflect what I have seen at my company.

Re: H-1B visas mainly go to Indian outsourcing firms

#270

(EU citizen point of view) I'd never consider a role in US that pays less than 150k (outside SV) $200k (SV/NY). H-1B is really bad because the holder has limited bargaining power vs US citizens hence he's forced to accept a lower salary when competing for jobs. There's also no clean way to allow talent to move around the world. A fair solution would be to agree on visa free movement of specialists earning above certa…

Once in the US, an H1-B auth holder can move at will to another company without informing the current employer. If the H1 transfer fails, it is a silent failure,

Bargaining power is an illusion once the employee is in the US.

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