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H1B rejected – builds unicorn back home

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Re: H1B rejected – builds unicorn back home

#111

Post by yosito »

As an American from an immigrant family, I think the US is really losing here. We should be giving visas out liberally to any skilled professional who wants one. Immigration is the only thing that ever truly made the US stand out.

On the other hand, as a global citizen with multiple passports who hasn't lived in the US for some time, maybe this is a good thing for the rest of the world. Spreading innovation out a bit and allowing other countries to thrive. Growing up in an immigrant family, I always had a sense of diversity being America's strength. But the last decade or so the US seems to have lost sight of the value of diversity. Not completely, but in many ways, partially thanks to US hegemony and the export of the English language, Europe is currently the cultural melting pot I idealized the US as growing up.

I think the world would truly be a more peaceful and thriving place if every country were more culturally integrated.

Anyway, I'm rambling now...

Re: H1B rejected – builds unicorn back home

#112

Post by amf12 »

dixie_land wrote: post #34
paxys wrote: post #27

US immigration policies for Indian and Chinese nationals has been a blessing for their home grown tech ecosystem. There is no path to a green card or citizenship for anyone who immigrated in the last ~15 years, and the top 5% talent that used to come over by default is now working at or founding companies at home instead. This is directly correlated to the number of tech unicorns in these countries growing exponentia…

Thanks to "consulting" companies' abuse of H1B. We should've just have a stack ranking of H1B candidates, based on income (and severe penalties for regression in comp, so you can't just do it for the visa). This would immediately break companies like Infosys that simply spams the lottery system with bogus applications.

> Thanks to "consulting" companies' abuse of H1B.

They found the "loopholes". Given that the system is being abused, the government hasn't made much effort in fixing it.

Re: H1B rejected – builds unicorn back home

#113

Post by jitix »

dxbydt wrote: post #26

In the early 1990s when I came here, the prevailing wisdom was that its categorically better to immigrate to the US from India if you get a chance. India was too far back in the tech space, too much bureaucracy, corruption, red-tape etc etc... In the 2020s, the consensus is quite mixed. A lot of people I personally worked with, who successfully got their visas and green cards, have given it all up and gone straight b…

I worked in the US and felt that H1B status was very insecure so I tried to start my own company in India in 2020, and also explored the job and housing market. I agree 100% with all the great financial and work-related competitive points you've highlighted but I believe it misses the human and quality of life factors.

Things that really affected my mental health in India during that time:

1. Food: Lack of variety in food and food ingredients. I like to eat out and cook different cuisines (Japanese to Korean to Middle eastern to French to Northern European). Beef is a major issue in India and fresh sushi can be a hit or miss even in Balgalore. And nothing is available if you're outside of the major metro cities.

2. Prices: If you're in Bangalore you do get a wide variety of food including beef dishes but equivalent quality restaurants and bars in India have the similar range prices as the US (I used to live in the south so it might not be apples to apples). Same goes for food ingredients - e.g. Almond milk and cheddar cheese costs the same in India as in the US.

3. Traffic and honking: Even sitting in an Uber for 30 mins can be maddening for me. Not to mention people actually yell obscenities at each other in traffic jams.

4. Interruptions: India still has power cuts, water supply and flooding issues and the bigger the city (with more opportunities) the worse these problems are. The gated communities in the metros alleviate many of these issues but then you're paying $1000 or more per month in rent or purchase for $600-700K. So same as most developed countries.

My conclusion was that if you got somewhat acclimated to the having a better QoL in the west (which is different than standard of living) you really need to try living there for a few months and see if it makes financial sense, because you'll be paying western prices on a Indian salary. As always YMMV depending on your preferences. I myself ended up moving to Canada.

edit: fixed typo

Re: H1B rejected – builds unicorn back home

#115

Post by FredPret »

ALittleLight wrote: post #61
petilon wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In the long term, does it make a difference in US if it doesn't bring talent across the world? Of course, it does! The only reason the standard of living in the US is higher than anywhere else in the world is because the US makes stuff the rest of the world covets. America is the leading economy in the world today not because it has the most number of people, but because it has the best and the brightest, gathered…

I think there are several countries, across North and Western Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, perhaps Singapore and Hong Kong, that could compete with the US for "standard of living". These countries don't have similar immigration policies or histories compared to the US. If you think of a person who builds a unicorn as a national level resource, which makes sense because they create jobs, capabilities, and w…

I'm an engineer that moved to Canada. Let me tell you, I am here because they made it easy (or at least do-able) to come, and the people made it extremely pleasant to stay.

In America, you also get the mostly immigrant-friendly culture, but it's orders of magnitude harder and more involved to get there. So it's not even on my radar.

Re: H1B rejected – builds unicorn back home

#116

Post by hunterb123 »

yosito wrote: post #111

As an American from an immigrant family, I think the US is really losing here. We should be giving visas out liberally to any skilled professional who wants one. Immigration is the only thing that ever truly made the US stand out. On the other hand, as a global citizen with multiple passports who hasn't lived in the US for some time, maybe this is a good thing for the rest of the world. Spreading innovation out a bit…

The US allows more immigrants than any other country. What exactly is the criticism?

Re: H1B rejected – builds unicorn back home

#117

Post by [deleted] »

abc_lisper wrote: post #105
throw0821374 wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

.

They also make choices and compromises people in US don't. Every interaction in India is loaded with suspicion. Dishonesty is the baseline. Disrespect is the norm. Xenophobia is common. Insecurity is the guiding North Star. Entitlement is prevalent. Hard work is looked down. Rules are for fools and loyalty (however earned/enforced) is everything. I love my country, but those are the facts.

[deleted]

Re: H1B rejected – builds unicorn back home

#118

Post by sremani »

Ar-Curunir wrote: post #79
radicaldreamer wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the pollution, weather, water quality, noise, dust, and overall lack of high quality public spaces is a big deal. India is amazing and dynamic in a lot of ways, but there are major intangibles to account for (like how much one values a quiet evening walk in fresh air).

You don't have to live in a Delhi or a Mumbai or a Bangalore. Cities like Dehradun, Ranchi, and more provide many of these amenities.

The most important amenity is Employment. Only a small portion of people would move to tier-2 seconds and that too because of familial ties not some over whelming amenities.

By and large NRIs moving back from US end up in the usual metros at least in the beginning.

Re: H1B rejected – builds unicorn back home

#119

Post by sremani »

weatherlite wrote: post #82
sremani wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People are making an error based on the past 20 years of debt binge and capital flooding that took over the world. When the FDI dries up, India is a very weird place. The energy costs will put a number in Asia and Europe in the next decade with dramatic food security challenges. Overall, at macro level, US beats India, but are there positive offshoots in some niches.. perhaps!

India is getting Russian oil pretty cheap now as far as I know, and most likely Iran as well. The U.S is not immune to the energy problem btw, Shale oil is getting more expensive because all the easy spots were already used.

I cannot argue here. What would go wrong, if Russian Oil and Gas are foundational to your Energy Security.

Let me call Angela Merkel.

Re: H1B rejected – builds unicorn back home

#120

Post by nine_zeros »

hunterb123 wrote: post #116
yosito wrote: post #111

As an American from an immigrant family, I think the US is really losing here. We should be giving visas out liberally to any skilled professional who wants one. Immigration is the only thing that ever truly made the US stand out. On the other hand, as a global citizen with multiple passports who hasn't lived in the US for some time, maybe this is a good thing for the rest of the world. Spreading innovation out a bit…

The US allows more immigrants than any other country. What exactly is the criticism?

> The US allows more immigrants than any other country. What exactly is the criticism?

The system is unbelievably cruel. People die (or see their loved ones die) before they get greencards.

It is not a numbers game. If you can attract the best, you need to let them thrive instead of enslaving them.

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