New $100k H-1B visa fee pushes tech jobs offshore • Hacker News Board

Re: New $100k H-1B visa fee pushes tech jobs offshore

#381

Post by frumper » Tue, Sep 15, 2026, 4:25 PM UTC

cvhc wrote: post #292

infecto wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Canada historically is also one of the worst places to work in tech. Maybe it’s changed but I remember a decade ago tech jobs were paying a 1/4th of what they were in NYC/SF.

It's still bad. I got a 40%+ pay cut after being transferred from the Bay Area to Vancouver. It seems local companies pay even less than US big techs. And just search and see how Vancouver is regarded as one of the least affordable cities. Though I don't worry too much about the pay -- it's still a decent amount. It just sometimes makes me feel unfair when I'm doing the exact same job as my US colleagues.

You'd take a 40% pay cut, or more, going 20 miles east of the Bay Area.

Re: New $100k H-1B visa fee pushes tech jobs offshore

#382

Post by happytoexplain » Tue, Sep 15, 2026, 6:49 PM UTC

bijowo1676 wrote: post #334

happytoexplain wrote: post #325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Employers have only one job: to maximize profits, thats it. This is wrong. In practice, we bias toward this rule because it happens to align with benefit to society moreso than other rules (most of the time), but it is not the end, it is the means. The responsibility of employers (and all people participating in society) is to jointly maintain, and ideally improve, society. That's part of why government exists - to…

there is no smart argument to ban H1B. Its all pure jingoism and racism. There is really nothing else here. The fact that America is global tech leader is thanks to foreigners, all these FAANGs and MAG7s and OpenAI and Anthropic, the paper "Transformers is all your need", everything was created by highly skilled foreigners. Without foreigners there is no tech sector, no sweet MAG7 and FAANG stock returns, America wou…

This is a genuinely depressing position to see on HN - the one place left on the internet I will willingly engage with. Not everybody who disagrees with you on policy is simply a racist. You are being uncharitable, and leaning on the drug of "all my enemies are stupid". Everybody is stupid. I'm stupid, you are stupid. Expertise is a fallacious bar for normal discourse. Honesty and curiosity are what actually constitute "smartness" - not knowledge.

Smart people are not arguing that we should have zero immigration forever. They are arguing that H1B should be reformed or replaced (e.g. with O-1, or something else), which, yes, is synonymous with destroying it in its current form. And they are arguing that offshoring should be punished unless actually necessary. This does not conflict with the historical case studies you are using as dramatic rhetorical example.

Maybe the people you are disagreeing with are wrong - you could simply argue that. But you are making a different argument. It's going to be very hard to convince Americans that Americans should not be protected by America, and that everybody suffering is just a stupid racist idiot who should accept what is happening to their homes and livelihoods instead of trying to comprehend solutions.

Re: New $100k H-1B visa fee pushes tech jobs offshore

#383

Post by bijowo1676 » Tue, Sep 15, 2026, 10:46 PM UTC

happytoexplain wrote: post #382

bijowo1676 wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

there is no smart argument to ban H1B. Its all pure jingoism and racism. There is really nothing else here. The fact that America is global tech leader is thanks to foreigners, all these FAANGs and MAG7s and OpenAI and Anthropic, the paper "Transformers is all your need", everything was created by highly skilled foreigners. Without foreigners there is no tech sector, no sweet MAG7 and FAANG stock returns, America wou…

This is a genuinely depressing position to see on HN - the one place left on the internet I will willingly engage with. Not everybody who disagrees with you on policy is simply a racist. You are being uncharitable, and leaning on the drug of "all my enemies are stupid". Everybody is stupid. I'm stupid, you are stupid. Expertise is a fallacious bar for normal discourse. Honesty and curiosity are what actually constitu…

re "historical case studies you are using as dramatic rhetorical example":

It is very easy to undermine American big tech. If tomorrow China comes up with cheaper version of American tech products it will be over. Same way TikTok took over social media, same way DeepSeek can undermine openai/anthropic, and any other random SAAS can undermine existing american SAAS, because American salaries are 2x-4x compared to other countries. The moment America experiences reverse brain drain and alternative tech hubs are established, they can undercut prices with the same quality. So do not take it for granted that America will be tech leader forever, the global immigration is the only thing that keeps the leadership and drains other countries of top talent.

Immigration must be legislated by Congress, it is their job. GOP controlled the congress during trump1 and trump2 and decided not do anything. Superior Court mostly decided to maintain the status quo.

I am for reasonable and thoughtful reform of immigration, that should be done by Congress. Current admin has zero capability and no interest to pursue bona-fide reform.

All they want is throw defenseless foreigners under the bus and draw blood of innocent people for a big show, all while stealing money for themselves. and GOP voting base has no interest in keeping the people in power in check and demand accountability.

This is why I am firmly against the current admin using administrative procedures to halt immigration via backdoors like "$100k admin fee". Let's be honest here - nobody is interested in recouping admin costs of adjudicating immigration paperwork. They are simply using $100k to stop it.

The authority for stopping/reforming immigration lies firmly with Congress.

Re: New $100k H-1B visa fee pushes tech jobs offshore

#384

Post by chaostheory » Wed, Sep 16, 2026, 6:03 AM UTC

bigmadshoe wrote: post #376

chaostheory wrote: post #366

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the nth time, most people who work in Silicon Valley, even the ones who work in SF, do not live in SF where the prices are more comparable to Vancouver. This is one of the major reasons we didn't move to Canada.

And not everyone who works in Vancouver lives in the city of Vancouver either. There are 10 or so other cities within commuting distance. A fair comparison would compare areas outside of SF with areas outside of Vancouver. There are obviously some outliers like Oakland, but on average you would expect to pay 50%-100% more in rent in the Bay Area than in the Vancouver area. There is a lot of data available online that…

1. Your comparisons aren’t that great. Burnaby’s twin is Oakland and not Mountain view.

2. You’re ignoring the option of buying homes which is impossible for Canadian vancouver salaries but still possible with American salaries in the SF Bay Area