US burns through all high-skill visas for 2015 in less than a week • Hacker News Board

Re: US burns through all high-skill visas for 2015 in less than a week

#41

Post by balls187 » Mon, Apr 07, 2014, 10:40 PM UTC

tokenadult wrote: post #26

What is that makes the United States such an attractive place to immigrate to for people whose skill sets could take them almost anywhere in the world? (In other words, why is that successive sessions of Congress can basically count on lots of people desiring to live in the United States, thus setting up an environment in which immigration regulation is restrictive rather than open?) (I'm genuinely curious about this…

> What is that makes the United States such an attractive place to immigrate to for people whose skill sets could take them almost anywhere in the world?

That is a broad question.

Probably because unlike most other countries, we're a nation of immigrants, and while our policies may not be perfect, we have empathy for people who want to move here, and work hard for a better life.

Re: US burns through all high-skill visas for 2015 in less than a week

#42

Post by zizee » Mon, Apr 07, 2014, 10:40 PM UTC

tokenadult wrote: post #26

What is that makes the United States such an attractive place to immigrate to for people whose skill sets could take them almost anywhere in the world? (In other words, why is that successive sessions of Congress can basically count on lots of people desiring to live in the United States, thus setting up an environment in which immigration regulation is restrictive rather than open?) (I'm genuinely curious about this…

85,000 people is a tiny amount of people all things considered. Australia had 129,250 placed for skilled immigrants in the 2011-12 period and that's with a population of around 10% of the US.

I'm not saying that the US is not a popular choice for people wanting to immigrate, but I think that it is more that there is a good quality of life to be had, with the added bonus of being an English speaking country (which is the most popular choice as a 2nd language learn).

Re: US burns through all high-skill visas for 2015 in less than a week

#43

Post by emdowling » Mon, Apr 07, 2014, 10:41 PM UTC

Good to note that this does not include the E3 visa available exclusively to Australians. Australia never uses its full allocation of 10,000 E3's each year and they are incredibly easy to get. the candidate simply needs a Bachelor's degree or higher as well as a job offer. If approved, their spouse is also instantly eligible for a E3 visa entitling them to work too.

Generally, it takes 2-4 weeks to get one from start to finish if you have a good immigration lawyer.

This sort of visa should not be exclusive to Australia. As an Aussie, I get the benefit from it but at the same time, I feel everyone should have access to it. I hope visa reform comes soon!

Anyone struggling to hire, big or small, should market to Australians. Its very cheap to fly out and interview a heap of smart candidates who would love to work for startups in the Bay Area.

Re: US burns through all high-skill visas for 2015 in less than a week

#44

Post by cloudhead » Mon, Apr 07, 2014, 10:41 PM UTC

tokenadult wrote: post #26

What is that makes the United States such an attractive place to immigrate to for people whose skill sets could take them almost anywhere in the world? (In other words, why is that successive sessions of Congress can basically count on lots of people desiring to live in the United States, thus setting up an environment in which immigration regulation is restrictive rather than open?) (I'm genuinely curious about this…

Lets just say it's not about the country itself, but the companies based in the US. In other words, the opportunity to work on really interesting problems with the best people in the field.

Re: US burns through all high-skill visas for 2015 in less than a week

#45

Post by ucr » Mon, Apr 07, 2014, 10:41 PM UTC

blub5 wrote: post #36

"In 2013, 124,000 people applied for the combined 85,000 slots in the first five-day period." Considering that Americans seem to have little difficulty affording computers and software, yet continue to bankrupted by health care costs, wouldn't it make a lot more sense to give those 85k visas to cheap doctors from overseas to drive down medical costs, instead of giving them to cheap foreign programmers to drive down t…

I don't think doctor/nurse salaries are the main cost in medical care. Probably not even close.

Re: US burns through all high-skill visas for 2015 in less than a week

#46

Post by gdilla » Mon, Apr 07, 2014, 10:41 PM UTC

fsk wrote: post #23

malandrew wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The H1-B visa really needs to be completely divorced from the company that originally applies for it. At the end of the day, the US government makes a decision if an individual adds value to the country by working for a US company. Which US company shouldn't matter. The only time the visa should be re-evaluated in a way that the employer may be deported is if the worker is fired for cause. Beyond that the visa should…

I'm in favor of immigration. I'm saying give them an unlimited work visa, instead of making them a slave to the employer. Also, H1-B visas get 50%-150%+ raises when they get their green card, which proves that the H1-B visa suppresses wages.

Quite right. It's not a free labor market if laborers aren't free to move around! H1Bs keep wages down for that very reason. If they were attached to the worker, not the company, H1B wages would rise overnight.

Re: US burns through all high-skill visas for 2015 in less than a week

#47

Post by conanbatt » Mon, Apr 07, 2014, 10:41 PM UTC

tokenadult wrote: post #26

What is that makes the United States such an attractive place to immigrate to for people whose skill sets could take them almost anywhere in the world? (In other words, why is that successive sessions of Congress can basically count on lots of people desiring to live in the United States, thus setting up an environment in which immigration regulation is restrictive rather than open?) (I'm genuinely curious about this…

I can speak for Argentina in this case: first and foremost, an average entry-level programmer in argentina might make 600 dollars a month. There is no consideration for your degree in that regard.

Second but not least, because ARgentina grows so much on outsourcing contracts, the quality of the job to do is poor and uncommitted. Product management in Argentina is almost non-existent. This means that the most likely job you will get is contracting-"do as the guy that pay exactly wants even if you know for a fact that there are better ways to do it" work.

So, more pay + more interesting work is enticing enough. Also, having worked in the US gives you a halo if you come back.

Re: US burns through all high-skill visas for 2015 in less than a week

#48

Post by ebiester » Mon, Apr 07, 2014, 10:42 PM UTC

tokenadult wrote: post #26

What is that makes the United States such an attractive place to immigrate to for people whose skill sets could take them almost anywhere in the world? (In other words, why is that successive sessions of Congress can basically count on lots of people desiring to live in the United States, thus setting up an environment in which immigration regulation is restrictive rather than open?) (I'm genuinely curious about this…

There are only a few really good places to live for an educated worker. Japan, Australia, Western and Northern Europe, Canada, and the US. I will operationalize "good" as "an intelligent worker can make an exceptional living relative to their country of origin."

Each of these places only take a limited amount of immigrants each year. Some are more difficult based on the national language -- learning Danish isn't more difficult than English or French, but there are fewer learning resources to do so.

So, your best options for the greatest amount of opportunity is to learn English -- you have the UK, America, Canada, and Australia as potential landing spots. (This is, of course, not universal. Developing countries with French as a national language will prefer France, for example.)

So, the answer is that it's a way out.

Re: US burns through all high-skill visas for 2015 in less than a week

#49

Post by johngalt » Mon, Apr 07, 2014, 10:42 PM UTC

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #6

A good friend of mine works in the US under a high-Skill visa - as a tenured professor at Cornell, with oh, the Presidents medal for something very clever. I think high skilled is a term that we coders are happy to apply to themselves, but really folks we are not compared to a genuine elite. The future will be invented by a very small number of brilliant people - the rest if us are just here to fill in the gaps behin…

Exactly. Sure some H1-b visas might be used to just increase programmer supply, but many are like the professor you're talking about. Even catching a few geniuses in an extremely broad net is an invaluable boon to our country. Our concerns should be that we are missing some.

Re: US burns through all high-skill visas for 2015 in less than a week

#50

Post by fitzpasd » Mon, Apr 07, 2014, 10:42 PM UTC

I'm going to be in this lottery and it's unnerving thinking about how different my life could turn out if I get this visa vs. don't. Young male, can't imagine I'd try again next year so it could be the difference of a much higher paying job plus living 5+ years in America vs. staying in my home country probably for life. Nothing wrong with my home country, but I'm excited of the prospect of living in America and the experiences that go with.

For people in the same boat: I think it's easier to cope with this if you take the view that you have to be lucky to get the visa, not unlucky not to. No one complains of ill-luck when they buy a lottery ticket and don't win millions. Positivity folks! :)