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Executive order expected to suspend H-1B, other visas until end of year

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Re: Executive order expected to suspend H-1B, other visas until end of year

#171

Post by [deleted] »

dx87 wrote: post #58
awillen wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just silly... even if you're a nationalist, isn't the prospect of bringing over talented people from foreign countries to work in America and help our companies profit plus deprive their home countries of their skills a really, really good thing?

If H-1B visas were being used how they were intended, they would be a good thing, but we often see them used as a way to get cheap labor, or even directly replace American workers. The company I work at has H-1B junior web developers, hardly "very niche, hard to fill" positions that they can't find any qualified Americans to do.

[deleted]

Re: Executive order expected to suspend H-1B, other visas until end of year

#172

Post by vsskanth »

retortio wrote: post #59

H1-B was intended for highly skilled workers that the US had a real shortage of. But now it's just being abused to bring in captive workers that are willing to accept lower wages and worse working conditions than otherwise while crowding out US workers. What if, instead of bowing to corporate greed which cares not a bit for our country or our people, we actually invested in our own population and trained them to do t…

Reposting my response from a different thread:

Every time you file an H1B Visa, you pay something called a ACWIA Fee (“American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act of 1998”). For employers who have between 1-25 full-time workers, the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act fee is $750. For employers with 26 or more full-time employees, the fee is $1,500. [1] This fee was established to fund training and education programs administered by the Department of Labor.

As of 2018, there were 420K active H1B visas in the USA. These people need to renew their visas every 3 years (most are Indians and they can never become PR in their lifetime). So that means 300-630 million USD is being added to this fund on a recurring basis over a 3 year period.

I wonder where all that money went.

[1] https://www.immi-usa.com/h1b-visa-processing-fees-2016/

Re: Executive order expected to suspend H-1B, other visas until end of year

#173

Post by KingTen »

pmoriarty wrote: post #167
retortio wrote: post #59

H1-B was intended for highly skilled workers that the US had a real shortage of. But now it's just being abused to bring in captive workers that are willing to accept lower wages and worse working conditions than otherwise while crowding out US workers. What if, instead of bowing to corporate greed which cares not a bit for our country or our people, we actually invested in our own population and trained them to do t…

"What if, instead of bowing to corporate greed which cares not a bit for our country or our people, we actually invested in our own population and trained them to do the jobs H1-B workers currently do." Who's this "our people" you're talking about? As a US citizen, I consider every person in the world as part of my people, and I don't begrudge any individual coming and working or training in the US. The more people,…

Oh you’re one of those open borders people. It’s idealistic but unfeasible now. Countries need to take care of their own people first and foremost.

Re: Executive order expected to suspend H-1B, other visas until end of year

#174

Post by pkaye »

joelbluminator wrote: post #159
SV_BubbleTime wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The immigration restrictions to Canada are more strict aren’t they? Is there a minimum asset requirement? Is there a requirement that to apply have have to have been there for 3-5 years? An English language test? I don’t know for sure; asking.

I don't think Canada is more strict, not at all, but would like to hear from commenters who moved to Canada. Especially draconian is the fact that the spouse of a h1b holder can't work (last I checked). As an immigrant in the Netherlands that's not the case there and it's a huge deal breaker for me to ever think of the U.S.

In the US the spouse of an H1B visa holder can work.

Re: Executive order expected to suspend H-1B, other visas until end of year

#175

Post by tinyhouse »

samfisher83 wrote: post #66
retortio wrote: post #59

H1-B was intended for highly skilled workers that the US had a real shortage of. But now it's just being abused to bring in captive workers that are willing to accept lower wages and worse working conditions than otherwise while crowding out US workers. What if, instead of bowing to corporate greed which cares not a bit for our country or our people, we actually invested in our own population and trained them to do t…

You can look at the data, SV companies aren't paying H1B people low wages. Unless you think 200-300k is low wages.

Salary is not even the issue. The main issue is the employment restrictions. Instead of making H1-B a visa that lets an individual full freedom (like green card), it's tied to an employer and moving jobs is not that easy, and many employers also sponsor for green card, which is another process that can take years and make it harder to move. During this time the employee has little leverage asking for promo or raises. (promo and raises usually appear after the green card..)

Once you let employees freedom, the market will take care of the salary. I also understand that employers invest in the visa application and relocation of people, so it should be fair to them as well. This can solved by having a period (1-year is pretty reasonable) that prohibits new visa holders from moving companies.

Re: Executive order expected to suspend H-1B, other visas until end of year

#176

Post by tracer4201 »

fredfoobar wrote: post #128
retortio wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing to remember is that in many cases H1-B workers are brought over by sponsoring companies which take a huge cut (I know cases of 40% or more) out of their salaries for the service of securing them the Visa. So those salaries might appear to be a certain number but the workers themselves may actually receive significantly less while some rent seeking company stashes the differences. I know for a fact that in m…

I'm sorry to break it to you, if your company isn't paying prevailing wages, they're doing something illegal. They need to be shut-down, not the whole fucking program.

There’s nothing illegal going on here. I posted earlier that I was at an oil and gas company in Houston, a Fortune 10 company at the time. We had IT contractors from Larsen and Toubro. As an example, one guy who reported to me was paid < $20 an hour after L&TI and another contracting company in the middle took their cut. He wasn’t thrilled with that situation but his other option was to quit and go back to India. The worst part was I couldn’t hire him directly because of his contract. He wasn’t allowed to quit and directly work for us. Kind of live slavery.

Re: Executive order expected to suspend H-1B, other visas until end of year

#177

Post by whb07 »

tartoran wrote: post #141
saltedonion wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Certainly. But the risk is incredibly high. If trump gets re-elected he’s going to go after these guys big time. Breaking them up would not be stretching the imagination. Censoring trump is the nuclear option.

If he gets reelected (not likely) he would do it regardless. He’ll destroy the country too

Word of advice, don’t let your extreme biases cloud observations and judgements.

Re: Executive order expected to suspend H-1B, other visas until end of year

#178

Post by smnrchrds »

ycombonator wrote: post #103
belltaco wrote: post #38

This is great news for Canada. Once the Covid situation resolves, if Trudeau doesn't give a lot of incentives for tech companies to build offices there Canada will miss out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Canada has already been benefiting from the recent restrictions on work visas and rejecting visas for no reason, for example by saying a forensic pathologist isn't a specialty occupation. https://www.npr.org/20…

They all eventually come back to USA after gaining a foothold in Canada. TN Visas. Majority of TN Visa users are immigrants into Canada.

This sounds like a massive exaggeration to me. Do you have any citation to back up these claims?

Re: Executive order expected to suspend H-1B, other visas until end of year

#179

Post by rantwasp »

blntechie wrote: post #164
rantwasp wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yeah. it starts in October but they cannot take the visa back, right?

Apparently all visa holders will be denied entry so basically they can’t enter until this order expires.

i did not pick this up from the linke article. i guess if your business relies in H1B workers now you know which camp you need to support.

Re: Executive order expected to suspend H-1B, other visas until end of year

#180

Post by hcurtiss »

pmoriarty wrote: post #167
retortio wrote: post #59

H1-B was intended for highly skilled workers that the US had a real shortage of. But now it's just being abused to bring in captive workers that are willing to accept lower wages and worse working conditions than otherwise while crowding out US workers. What if, instead of bowing to corporate greed which cares not a bit for our country or our people, we actually invested in our own population and trained them to do t…

"What if, instead of bowing to corporate greed which cares not a bit for our country or our people, we actually invested in our own population and trained them to do the jobs H1-B workers currently do." Who's this "our people" you're talking about? As a US citizen, I consider every person in the world as part of my people, and I don't begrudge any individual coming and working or training in the US. The more people,…

All else being equal, I think most people prioritize their own country and countrymen over others', and would not sacrifice their own countrymen to benefit others'. You may not share this view, but I think most people do. Most people consider themselves a part of a national team, and they feel some loyalty to their teammates.
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