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The next US president won’t be great for H-1B visas

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Re: The next US president won’t be great for H-1B visas

#41
post #23

3/4 of all H1Bs are going to Indians. Having some level of diversity from other countries doesn’t sound like a bad idea. On top of it, most of those H1bs are from Indian body shops gaming the system which is how they get so many H1Bs in the first place. So I’m okay with these changes.

Having some level of diversity from other countries doesn’t sound like a bad idea. No. H1B is a skills based visa and not diversity/family based. The only thing that should matter are the skills and not the country they come from. Steps should absolutely be taken to ensure the system can't be gamed and that only well qualified applicants get selected.

Enforcing diversity is a way to prevent gaming. If the only thing that should matter is skills, it wouldn't make sense in any realistic scenario that 75% of H1Bs are coming from a country with 15% of the population.

Re: The next US president won’t be great for H-1B visas

#42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Somehow the government doesn't want to fund landowners in California. You'd bet that take-home pay for the same work after taxes and rent is higher in Dallas than in San Jose. I think Facebook is demonstrating this like now.

> You'd bet that take-home pay for the same work after taxes and rent is higher in Dallas than in San Jose. I think Facebook is demonstrating this like now. It's not, though. Median rent in Mountain View (significantly pricier than San Jose) is now $2390/month [1]. L4 total comp at Google, or E4 salaries at Facebook, is about $260K/year [2]. Average rent for a 1BR in Dallas is $1250/month [3]. Average total comp for…

>> L4 total comp at Google, or E4 salaries at Facebook, is about $260K/year ... Average total comp for a software engineer in Dallas is $110K/year

You're using average (median I hope) salary for Dallas vs. high end salaries for San Jose.

You used indeed.com for the Dallas salaries, if you use them for San Jose you get an average of 150K. Too lazy to run the numbers but obviously that would change the calculation quite a bit.

Re: The next US president won’t be great for H-1B visas

#43
post #25
post #6

You can take all kinds of policy positions on a campaign, but any president cannot really do much to the H1B system without passing laws. Passing a new immigration bill is very hard since there are so many competing interests benefiting from the status quo and there is very little to gain electorally. The current administration tried using executive action and regulatory approaches to fulfil their agenda and both kee…

> The current administration tried using executive action and regulatory approaches to fulfil their agenda and both keep getting struck down in courts. The new upward revision in wage levels are also expected to have the same fate. There is simply very little regulatory leeway on H1B visas since they are encoded in law. That’s not accurate. The original law in the 1960s was designed to be very different, and one of t…

>That ended up being false because Presidents ended up using executive action and regulations to depart from the original design...Indeed, the H1-B system was never intended to be a vehicle for permanent immigration

What? That was an act of Congress.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_Act_of_1990#Non-im...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_Act_of_1990#Job-ba...

Re: The next US president won’t be great for H-1B visas

#44
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like some of your points, and H1B desperately needs a revamp. However, a direct unadjusted salary based auction is a non-starter for the following reasons: - Non tech professions also hire people on H1Bs and don't pay as well as FAANG-likes do. - Wages are generally lower in non bay area locations. Employers in low COL areas might lose out to those in high COL areas. > Employees who voluntarily quit or are terminat…

> Wages are generally lower in non bay area locations. Employers in low COL areas might lose out to those in high COL areas. Maybe it's time to start valuing employees on the value they add instead of some arbitrary rent price! The talent is global after all.

That would increase the cost of business because it encourages people to move away from big cities and big companies no longer get to have a concentrated fishbowl of talents. They need to open more offices, or use more remote workers.

I personally like that world; but I doubt the companies would. They’d rather just pay more salary to balance out the high rents, so people keep swarming to its location.

Re: The next US president won’t be great for H-1B visas

#45
post #41
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having some level of diversity from other countries doesn’t sound like a bad idea. No. H1B is a skills based visa and not diversity/family based. The only thing that should matter are the skills and not the country they come from. Steps should absolutely be taken to ensure the system can't be gamed and that only well qualified applicants get selected.

Enforcing diversity is a way to prevent gaming. If the only thing that should matter is skills, it wouldn't make sense in any realistic scenario that 75% of H1Bs are coming from a country with 15% of the population.

> If the only thing that should matter is skills, it wouldn't make sense in any realistic scenario that 75% of H1Bs are coming from a country with 15% of the population.

That's not really true. Skills the same, you would still see more people from SEA, Africa immigrating to the US than say people from EU, Australia, Canada. Most qualified people in developed countries can get the same or better standard of living staying in their home countries than people from countries like India.

Re: The next US president won’t be great for H-1B visas

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You'd bet that take-home pay for the same work after taxes and rent is higher in Dallas than in San Jose. I think Facebook is demonstrating this like now. It's not, though. Median rent in Mountain View (significantly pricier than San Jose) is now $2390/month [1]. L4 total comp at Google, or E4 salaries at Facebook, is about $260K/year [2]. Average rent for a 1BR in Dallas is $1250/month [3]. Average total comp for…

>> L4 total comp at Google, or E4 salaries at Facebook, is about $260K/year ... Average total comp for a software engineer in Dallas is $110K/year You're using average (median I hope) salary for Dallas vs. high end salaries for San Jose. You used indeed.com for the Dallas salaries, if you use them for San Jose you get an average of 150K. Too lazy to run the numbers but obviously that would change the calculation quit…

$260k is a low end salary

Re: The next US president won’t be great for H-1B visas

#48

How is wage-based visa allocation denying entry-level applicant visas a bad thing? If there are entry level roles to be filled they should be filled locally since they're low skill/experience by definition. If you're going to develop talent you should develop local talent. The deal is that you give foreigners the opportunity because they offer valuable skills.

It is not just entry level roles. H1B also fills universities, nurses, doctors, young startups. They are not going to compete with $400k salaries at FAANG

Re: The next US president won’t be great for H-1B visas

#49
post #12

“I am hearing from many constituents, who have been waiting over ten years, for a green card“ - Constituent - “ any of the voters who elect a person to represent them.” H1B are not US citizens, and politicians considering them their “constituents” are misrepresenting their true constituents interests.

A tax paying non citizen is a constituent

Re: The next US president won’t be great for H-1B visas

#50
post #49
post #12

“I am hearing from many constituents, who have been waiting over ten years, for a green card“ - Constituent - “ any of the voters who elect a person to represent them.” H1B are not US citizens, and politicians considering them their “constituents” are misrepresenting their true constituents interests.

A tax paying non citizen is a constituent

How can a non citizen pay taxes?
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