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Vancouver tech surges as U.S. immigration reform idles

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Re: Vancouver tech surges as U.S. immigration reform idles

#81

Post by lingoberry »

pekk wrote: post #72
inoop wrote: post #66

Earlier this year I interviewed for a research/engineering position at Apple. I was offered the job, took it, and went into the H1B lottery. It took the USCIS four months to let me know that my application was not selected, even though it was filed under 'premium processing', and the draw had been done using a computer in the first week after submissions closed. Since the job required me to be in Cupertino, the deal…

American citizens are not entitled to work in the EU. If an American wants to plan their long-term life around working in the EU, that is far from a sure thing. Even with a masters and PhD. So why should the US be singled out for this?

I don't know if it works like this in all of EU, but if you have a job offer you will get a work permit, no lottery required.

Re: Vancouver tech surges as U.S. immigration reform idles

#82

Post by parennoob »

blutoot wrote: post #48
parennoob wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, it is possible to change jobs when your application is ongoing. Just tedious. Tedious enough to be a strong disincentive.

Can anyone realistically make a meaningful impact in a big company in less than 6 years, especially when one is just starting out in the industry? Also isn't it only fair that if a company that's gonna spend all this money on changing your fortunes forever (i.e. sponsor your green card), then it should be able to get as much value out of you as it can? So the burden falls kinda on the employee to make the best of tha…

Leaving aside the somewhat patronizing nature of your comment ("can anyone make a meaningful impact in If I work my ass off for 1, 4, or 6 years, I would much rather it be for an optimal outcome, regardless of who my employer is, or where they are located. If Canada is possibly offering a better deal, people should know about, and look seriously at them. This might even possibly lead to happier and more productive employees. Don't you agree?

Re: Vancouver tech surges as U.S. immigration reform idles

#83

Post by afafsd »

spamizbad wrote: post #41
exstudent wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And you know, everyone who's not xenophobic, enjoys living in a diverse community and philosophically believes people should be able to live wherever they want.

Strawman. Vivek Wadhwa scolded Democrats for not taking a deal proposed by the Republicans whereby 55K diversity visas in exchange for startup visas. [1] [1] http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/10/dear-congressman-gutierrez-... Startup visas have nothing to do with diversity. It has to do with enriching the US economy. Nothing wrong with that. I support the startup visa moment, but not at the expense of other visas. We sho…

>We should be giving more visas - not less or the same amount reclassified.

True, but you should also be doing more to exclude the people who don't have visas, which is the main reason the US immigration system is currently broken.

I lived in the US for a few years, did everything legally, queued up at embassies, paid endless fees, and saw that everywhere I went I was surrounded by people who had entered the country illegally and the US government wasn't doing a fucking thing about it.

Eventually I decided "Fuck it", because if the US government is more interested in letting in a gazillion unskilled, non-English-speaking manual labourers who have already shown a complete disregard for its laws than it is in letting in me, then the US isn't a country that deserves me.

Re: Vancouver tech surges as U.S. immigration reform idles

#84

Post by BrainInAJar »

inoop wrote: post #66

Earlier this year I interviewed for a research/engineering position at Apple. I was offered the job, took it, and went into the H1B lottery. It took the USCIS four months to let me know that my application was not selected, even though it was filed under 'premium processing', and the draw had been done using a computer in the first week after submissions closed. Since the job required me to be in Cupertino, the deal…

I'm Canadian, and I've rejected countless job offers because it'd mean ~6 years of my spouse not being able to work until we get green cards.

Re: Vancouver tech surges as U.S. immigration reform idles

#85

Post by BrainInAJar »

pskittle wrote: post #29

Has anyone here been hired by or hires engineers for an american company which has an office in Vancouver? Would you be kind enough to talk about you experience

Yes, several. I'm in Vancouver, and every job I've had have been from Bay Area companies with satellite offices here.

Re: Vancouver tech surges as U.S. immigration reform idles

#86

Post by afafsd »

exstudent wrote: post #79
prodigal_erik wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the Internet had to ensure housing, food, and transportation would be available for every participant, we would be a lot more selective about granting access. Open borders made sense in the age of unsettled land, and they make sense when the marginal cost of delivering everything (i.e., only information) is nearly zero.

I live in the US and I'm not ensured any of those things. Allowing more people into the country could only improve our economy. We would be more "selective"? How would we select?

Whom should you select to let into your country? The same people you select as employees, only more so.

We use "skilled migration" as a proxy for what we really want, which is people with good genes. If you have skills and good genes then you'll enrich the country not only in this generation but in all future generations to come.

So an ideal immigration policy would involve some combination of testing for intelligence, physical fitness and (dare I say it) good looks.

Re: Vancouver tech surges as U.S. immigration reform idles

#87

Post by exstudent »

afafsd wrote: post #83
spamizbad wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Strawman. Vivek Wadhwa scolded Democrats for not taking a deal proposed by the Republicans whereby 55K diversity visas in exchange for startup visas. [1] [1] http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/10/dear-congressman-gutierrez-... Startup visas have nothing to do with diversity. It has to do with enriching the US economy. Nothing wrong with that. I support the startup visa moment, but not at the expense of other visas. We sho…

>We should be giving more visas - not less or the same amount reclassified. True, but you should also be doing more to exclude the people who don't have visas, which is the main reason the US immigration system is currently broken. I lived in the US for a few years, did everything legally, queued up at embassies, paid endless fees, and saw that everywhere I went I was surrounded by people who had entered the country…

What harm were those people actually causing you?

Re: Vancouver tech surges as U.S. immigration reform idles

#88

Post by exstudent »

afafsd wrote: post #86
exstudent wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in the US and I'm not ensured any of those things. Allowing more people into the country could only improve our economy. We would be more "selective"? How would we select?

Whom should you select to let into your country? The same people you select as employees, only more so. We use "skilled migration" as a proxy for what we really want, which is people with good genes . If you have skills and good genes then you'll enrich the country not only in this generation but in all future generations to come. So an ideal immigration policy would involve some combination of testing for intelligen…

Good genes?! This is the most racist thing I've read on HN. I see why you have a throwaway account.

Re: Vancouver tech surges as U.S. immigration reform idles

#89

Post by paul »

pyre wrote: post #71
paul wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given that I also mentioned state and local government, it should be clear that I'm referring to more than just immigration issues. I get your point though. I'm an evil capitalist who doesn't want to fund Americans because they are unwilling to give up 7% equity, or something like that. Maybe you think that Sergey Brin and Paul Graham stole their jobs from some hard working, native born Americans. That's the problem…

Well, in some cases it's that the people coming from overseas are willing to get paid less for the same job. The 'evil capitalist' sees this as a way to get cheaper labor. I think that this can be alleviated without being anti-immigrant though. For example, make it easier for H1Bs to move between jobs and/or start their own businesses so that they don't have to feel so tied to the employer that they don't want to ris…

Again, it's a zero-sum thinking error to assume that there's some fixed number of jobs and therefore more people equals lower pay. I would have made substantially less at Google if it weren't for all of the foreigners making the company a success :)

I agree that H1B transfer restrictions are bad though. If people are good enough to let into the country, then they should be free to switch jobs just like anyone else.

Re: Vancouver tech surges as U.S. immigration reform idles

#90

Post by cperciva »

yelnatz wrote: post #3
Dewie wrote: post #2

> "I will not go to Canada," said the 25-year-old from Argentina of his initial reaction. "Twenty degrees below zero, are you crazy?" Perhaps the warmest major Canadian city, with a mild winter due to being coastal ('twenty degree below zero' - probably not).

If you can imagine Seattle's weather, that's basically Vancouver.

Vancouver is about 2C cooler than Seattle, and gets about 10% less sunlight and 15% more rain. But yes, they're certainly quite similar.
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