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U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

wsj.com

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Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#311

Post by shostack »

conductr wrote: post #223
hvb2 wrote: post #15

So for those that don't know, it's quite common for a visa renewal to be required to leave the country. Depending on the visa, you might have to do this every year. So just imagine, having a normal job in the US and you're asked to leave to renew your visa and this stuff happens. That's no more appointment, not even a new date and you're now very likely unable to work and possibly can't even enter the country to get…

Not trying to make a political point at all and perhaps a controversial take. But, it’s specifically and maybe implicitly by design. Meaning they made this way precisely so you have to reapply so they can change their mind or block you out later. Nothing about getting a visa is permanent and you’re fully at risk when you move here with that type of status. If you evaluate the situation that’s always been the case.

The cruelty is the point.

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#312

Post by jagged-chisel »

ytoawwhra92 wrote: post #284
10000truths wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being paid the same as the other guy doesn't necessarily mean the wages themselves stayed the same. Adding H1B candidates to the talent pool exerts downward pressure on salary due to the law of supply and demand. I can't say for sure whether the allure of a green card or threat of deportation play a material factor in lowering the average salary that H1B immigrants are willing to accept. But in an environment where t…

The prevailing wage for H1B software engineers is a very good salary for most software engineers in the world. It's common for the prevailing wage to be double what that person could earn in their country of origin.

And still exert downward pressure on wages. Just by virtue of having more people in the pool.

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#313

Post by ecshafer »

kraken_cult wrote: post #184
BLKNSLVR wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most immigration is based on hiring people into jobs for which the skills don't exist locally, based on what I've read. So, yes, they could hire a citizen, but then they probably wouldn't be able to do the job they were hired for.

This is just false. There are lot of reasons people hire immigrants, very few are truly incredible, singular talents. I lived with a bunch of Indian immigrants when in SF and it was universally guys not as skilled as me hired because there was a pipeline for Brahmin to the US.

Some of the worst programmers ive ever met have been h1b visa programmers.

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#314

Post by olivierlacan »

HippoBaro wrote: post #50
yalogin wrote: post #37

This one doesn’t mention tourist visas, so I am guessing they will be issued? I don’t get what benefit they see by inconveniencing and potentially harming folks that are already in the country legally to just live their lives. I get that this administration’s goal is to completely shut down all immigration and potentially even remove folks here legally too but there will be a cost to bear for the country because of t…

This is specifically for immigrant visas. USCIS distinguishes two broad categories of visas: immigrants and non-immigrants. Tourists are part of the latter group.

That's not accurate. H-1B is a non-immigrant visa. It's not intended for tourists.

From CBP's own website[1], emphasis is mine:

    An immigrant visa (IV) is issued to a foreign national wishing to live permanently in the United States.

    A nonimmigrant visa (NIV) is issued to a foreign national with permanent residence outside the United States but wishes to be in the United States on a temporary basis for tourism, medical treatment, *business,  temporary work, or study*, as examples. Note: There are more than 20 different categories of nonimmigrant visa classifications.
[1]: https://www.help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-1027?language=en_...

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#315

Post by p_j_w »

rayiner wrote: post #151
tootie wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Worked fine" is a pretty vague description for the year we had a Great Depression, world war, Jim Crow, Japanese internment to name a few.

The U.S. was at the apex of its power during those years. Those years are also why we remember earlier immigration waves as “working.” The foreign born population dropped from 15% to under 5% during that period. The Italian and Irish enclaves disappeared and so did the separate ethnic identity of those groups (to a large degree).

“I’m okay with racial prison camps if it makes us powerful” is the exact sort of moral bankruptcy to be expected from the people who defend this administration.

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#316

Post by jimbo808 »

doug_durham wrote: post #214
jimbo808 wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hire Americans? Hundreds of thousands of tech workers have been laid off in the last two years. There are many skilled Americans on the job market. Foreign workers are here for the benefit of the United States, not as charity to the rest of the world, or as a source of cheaper labor for global employers seeking to undercut American wages.

It's clear you are not a hiring manager. There aren't thousands of highly qualified engineers looking for work. I can't tell if this a troll post or not.

It's clear you are not considering the long-term effects of labor policy. If we want a stronger domestic workforce, the answer is to incentivize Americans to develop the skills we need and to train them when they do not already have those skills. Mass importing foreign labor is not a substitute for building and investing in the domestic workforce.

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#317

Post by rgbrenner »

Izikiel43 wrote: post #249
a2ff6eeb0 wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet, they never applied the simple option of ranking the visa applications by salary, and approving in order of demand for the talent. That would be a market based solution that allows everyone to get the talent they need without driving down American wages. But the point isn't about helping Americans, it's about being peedormatively against letting in brown people.

They are doing that now too, however the problem is that h1b is used for roles outside of tech, believe it or not, and if you measure everything by Bay Area tech salaries a bunch of necessary but lower paying jobs will go unfilled

If it's truly necessary, the fact that it's unfilled would be directly related to it being low paid.

And if the employer isn't willing to pay the cost of labor to fill the position, it directly raises the question of whether its "necessary".

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#318

Post by throwaway85825 »

FireBeyond wrote: post #105
cft wrote: post #70

[flagged]

What, were they untrained before? Is there a reason this training would take more than (at most) 16 hours? It's a bullshit excuse that's barely more palatable than the truth, brought to you by the same people who paused immigration for almost all of Africa except for "Caucasian South Africans".

Afrikaaners are a subgroup of what you refer to as Caucasians in South Africa.

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#319

Post by ecshafer »

JauntTrooper wrote: post #80
hvb2 wrote: post #15

So for those that don't know, it's quite common for a visa renewal to be required to leave the country. Depending on the visa, you might have to do this every year. So just imagine, having a normal job in the US and you're asked to leave to renew your visa and this stuff happens. That's no more appointment, not even a new date and you're now very likely unable to work and possibly can't even enter the country to get…

[flagged]

This doesnt make any sense. If you are married to a us citizen you qualify for a green card. Then you need 3 years for citizenship. You never need to leave the country. Ive been through this process, this is absolutely wrong.

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#320

Post by [deleted] »

a_bonobo wrote: post #266
maxgashkov wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not unique: Japanese system is exactly as you described.

Australia too - however, to get a renewal all you need is an online connection and a credit card, the renewal (at least for me!) goes through automatically. (Notwithstanding that Australia just increased the PR-renewal cost from ~400-500 to ~1400-1500 AUD)

[deleted]
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