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H-1B: Federal judge backs government’s narrower view of ‘specialty occupation’

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Re: H-1B: Federal judge backs government’s narrower view of ‘specialty occupation’

#111

Post by PeterisP »

conanbatt wrote: post #91

Im amazed at the level of protectionism expressed in this thread, in this community. I will make an argument for the cynics that believe they should be protected from competition: that immigration restrictions and caps like the H1B curtail the freedom of Americans to buy services from who they want to. American people that run American businesses are prohibited from hiring people they believe to be best suited for th…

You can't avoid protectionist arguments when discussing H-1B process which is explicitly designed to achieve protectionist goals with protectionist-friendly means.

You could have a very different immigration system, but there's no sign that the currently elected representatives or the voters targeted for the next election want to have or even would tolerate a non-protectionist system.

Re: H-1B: Federal judge backs government’s narrower view of ‘specialty occupation’

#112

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

deminature wrote: post #57
fernandopj wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As I recall it doesn't even need to be $500k upfront, you have to (show/prove) you'll invest that and generate jobs in a couple of years.

You have to prove you'll create jobs for a minimum of 10 U.S. citizens, which sounds somewhat nontrivial. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrat...

You just get roped into a big development project like Hudson Yards in NYC which was an excuse to sell thousands of EB5 visas. The bonus is your investment in "blight" redevelopment turns into luxury housing you can purchase to park your excess funds.

https://www.citylab.com/equity/2019/04/hudson-yards-financin...

Re: H-1B: Federal judge backs government’s narrower view of ‘specialty occupation’

#113

Post by Bhilai »

tbyehl wrote: post #90

Why should anyone sympathize with someone who came here on what was supposed to be a non-immigrant visa tied to a particular job and then changes their mind about immigrating / the job? The whole immigration system sucks, and especially H1-B, but let's not pretend only some of the players are gaming it. Everyone is.

> I am not saying this to seek sympathy, but things are way worse than they look.

OP clearly says they are not seeking your sympathy. And no, not everyone is gaming it.

Re: H-1B: Federal judge backs government’s narrower view of ‘specialty occupation’

#114

Post by rayiner »

abc_lisper wrote: post #92
tbyehl wrote: post #90

Why should anyone sympathize with someone who came here on what was supposed to be a non-immigrant visa tied to a particular job and then changes their mind about immigrating / the job? The whole immigration system sucks, and especially H1-B, but let's not pretend only some of the players are gaming it. Everyone is.

H-1B is dual-intent. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_intent

Dual intent is a weird and subtle aspect of immigration law. It does not mean that the H1-B visa itself is dual intent, available for people with immigrant intentions. The H1-B visa still requires intent to return to your home country.

8 USC 1184(h) allows the H1-B visa holder to be dual intent:

> The fact that an alien is the beneficiary of an application for a preference status filed under section 1154 of this title or has otherwise sought permanent residence in the United States shall not constitute evidence of an intention to abandon a foreign residence for purposes of obtaining a visa as a nonimmigrant described in subparagraph (H)(i)(b) or (c), (L), or (V) of section 1101(a)(15) of this title or otherwise obtaining or maintaining the status of a nonimmigrant described in such subparagraph, if the alien had obtained a change of status under section 1258 of this title to a classification as such a nonimmigrant before the alien’s most recent departure from the United States.

It says that the fact that you’ve filed for permanent residency will not be deemed to undermine the non-immigrant intent requires for the H1-B. But the H1-B remains a non-immigrant, temporary visa.

Contrast with say the Canadian skilled worker program, which results in permanent residency at the time of immigration.

Re: H-1B: Federal judge backs government’s narrower view of ‘specialty occupation’

#115

Post by rdtwo »

conanbatt wrote: post #82
Uhhrrr wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why H1B's should be auctioned, to kill the body shops which are gaming the current lottery system.

Or eliminate the cap altogether and never talk about this problem ever again.

That would benefit scammy firms like infosys

Re: H-1B: Federal judge backs government’s narrower view of ‘specialty occupation’

#116

Post by dudul »

nraynaud wrote: post #104
tbyehl wrote: post #90

Why should anyone sympathize with someone who came here on what was supposed to be a non-immigrant visa tied to a particular job and then changes their mind about immigrating / the job? The whole immigration system sucks, and especially H1-B, but let's not pretend only some of the players are gaming it. Everyone is.

There is no immigrant visa for work as far as I know. There is no immigrant visa even to get married.

Why would you need an immigrant visa to get married? As soon as you're married you're supposed to apply for a green card. Green cards through marriage are prioritized, not capped and all.

Re: H-1B: Federal judge backs government’s narrower view of ‘specialty occupation’

#117

Post by dudul »

paxys wrote: post #67
kelnos wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Putting aside for a moment the insane fact that someone can be in the green card queue for even six years (and I know people who have been in it for much longer), I don't see this as unreasonable. If you've had an H-1B approved for a particular kind of job, and then try to go work for one of the body-shop consulting/outsourcing firms, that absolutely should not be allowed. These firms have been abusing the H-1B syste…

Six years would be a blessing. Most people I know have been waiting 10 years or longer. The green card queue for the vast majority of applicants today is essentially infinite, even if you stay in the same job at the same company.

Isn't it only true for applicants from India and China? As far as I know (and I may be mistaken, this is just what my immigration lawyer told me a while ago) for all other countries it's not that bad, rarely passed a few years.

Re: H-1B: Federal judge backs government’s narrower view of ‘specialty occupation’

#118

Post by Bhilai »

rayiner wrote: post #99
Bhilai wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nonimmigrants in H-1B or L-1 status can be the beneficiary of an immigrant visa petition, apply for adjustment of status, or take other steps toward Lawful Permanent Resident status without affecting their status. This is known as "dual intent" and has been recognized in immigration law since passage of the Immigration Act of 1990. https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/About%20Us/E...

You’re mixing up two different things. “Dual intent” just means that you don’t lose your eligibility for a temporary status visa (which requires you to have intent to return to your home country) by filing for a green card. It basically allows you to express cognitive dissonance about your immigration intentions. That does not mean that the H1-B visa itself is not a temporary visa. The H1-B program itself remains des…

Oh I see, thanks for the correction.

Re: H-1B: Federal judge backs government’s narrower view of ‘specialty occupation’

#119

Post by privateSFacct »

ergothus wrote: post #15
privateSFacct wrote: post #4

Ugh, these cases give H1B's a bad name. I do wish there was crackdown on crap like this. Where I work the H1B applicants (who don't get selected) have masters, from a US university, for a degree that applies specifically to their job. These folks should be on the red carpet to US citizenship. They have checked every box. Instead they get treated like crap. They should SHUT DOWN these other players who clog up the pro…

As a baseline, I'm in favor of a lot of immigration and think people have way too many hoops to jump through in general, but the H1B crowd in particular is a group that matches even what most of those opposed to mass immigration claim to desire in immigrants. That said, i've noticed different "worlds" of H1B worlds, with different impacts upon other workers. I did a govt job on the US East Coast (Richmond, VA) that h…

Exactly.

The first group are basically being exploited by a body shop that puts in 10X the number of applications vs spots that they need, but always still gets lots of awards. They then are able to leverage the fact they flooded the pool to carry out visa arbitrage - they have something employees want, and leverage that, even though that things is really public government property (visa) and so shouldn't be a privately leveraged.

Almost all the H1B horror stories are from these shops (often they have related outsource arms) - "I had to train my replacement and they sent my job overseas using H1B visas". You can see how trump got elected when dems were defending this as good for US workers.

The second group are folks who really really need employees. They are and will hire absolutely any US worker who meets their criteria (it's a lot easier - fewer hoops to jump through) and are willing to hire an H1B eligible employee if they run out of pipeline on US based folks. These tend to be truly higher skill jobs. The US is taking the cream of other countries investments in education etc etc with the folks - I can't imagine this is bad for the US in any way.

What is frustrating from one perspective though is that the reactionary defense of H1B means that lots of group 1 are still allowed to play their games. Seriously, crack down big time on group one. Keep same number of folks coming, and loosen up on group 2 - Level 2+ wages, masters degree US should be first in line.

Re: H-1B: Federal judge backs government’s narrower view of ‘specialty occupation’

#120

Post by dang »

refurb wrote: post #65
throwaway082729 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been here for 17+ years, earn $650k/yr and I'm still in the same boat. I'm at the mercy of the govt. if I want to change jobs. Moreover, I need to restart the labor certification process and reapply for my green card though I get to keep the same priority date. There's no end in sight i.e. I cannot predict when I'll get my green card due to the per-country cap and backlog. Worse, I cannot quit and take time off…

Considering the average US citizen has a median income of $50K, it's kind of hard to feel sorry for you.

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