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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

#181

Post by arethuza »

jp555 wrote: post #7
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).

I imagine him then moving to California and rarely going outside. Vancouver weather is pretty close to London England, except sandwiched between an ocean and majestic mountain range.

Vancouver seems to get a lot more rain than London (about twice as much) and nearly as much as Glasgow.

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

#182

Post by ulfw »

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…

Time for more companies to do engineering/product overseas then and not just open sales/marketing offices. I can't imagine having 10,000+ engineers sitting in one location/timezone where you often can't get the best talents due to visa issues be more efficient than say have three large offices with say 5,000/2,500/2,500 each in America/Europe/Asia and be done with it. Sorry for your lousy experience with USCIS. I wholeheartedly agree with you that building your life stable is the more sensible thing to do than putting your life in the hands of a lottery!

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

#183

Post by afafsd »

0xab wrote: post #168
mbesto wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's your definition of sane? None of those countries have the scale, frequency and volume of demand that resembles anything like the US.[1] > Contrast that with how things work in the US (which I don't have time to get into in an HN comment), and you'll see why it deserves to be singled out for this. I don't think anyone is questioning that other countries have much more lax policies. The question is what is your…

In terms of immigrants as a percentage of population the US is nothing special. Canada has a lot more (closer to 19% instead of 14%). Many European countries have statistics similar to that of the US (Sweden has a bit more, the UK a bit less, etc). But I digress. The problem with the existing system is that it is insane and a waste of resources. One has to get a lawyer and wait for a long time with no certainty in th…

It's interesting, actually. In some ways the US is actually the small-government low-regulation country that it likes to pretend to be, but in other areas it's just a labyrinth of aggresive mollases-paced bureaucracy. Examples:

Example: the DMV. In both Australia and the US the procedure for getting my licence renewed is the same. I go into an office, I fill out a form, they take a picture, and I get a licence. The difference is that when I did this in Australia I waited about five minutes and they printed my licence on the spot, whereas in the US it for some reason takes one or two hours and they print the licence in six to eight weeks. It's not that the California DMV appears to have fewer staff per customer or anything, it's just for some reason their procedures make no sense and nobody is able or willing to fix it.

Other examples: immigration and the TSA, but let's not even go there.

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

#184

Post by LetBinding »

Is there a Big Data / NLP / Machine Learning scene in Vancouver? I rarely see any Data Scientist positions being advertised in Vancouver?

I am a foreigner with a PhD in applied NLP from a US university and I have been looking at such positions in other tech hubs like Vancouver, Montreal, Berlin, etc.

But these types of jobs only seem to be in the Valley. I work in the Valley and I like it here but I want to move to a place where I can have a stable immigration situation.

US immigration may be cumbersome but the most interesting jobs in Big Data seem to be in the US.

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

#185

Post by ulfw »

rdtsc wrote: post #127
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…

Just curious, what would you have done to fix the root issue -- handling a large number of H1B requests? One answer is well why should there be a cap. Well there is a cap and one reason is probably because opening the gates wide open will skew the job market in US. For better or for worse it is hard to say but if you ask those in US they might say for worse. So there is a cap. (And obviously it is being pushed agains…

Well the first thing you could do is to limit H1Bs to American companies (where the HQ is registered and run out of America and where the company is not a subsidiary of an international company). When you look at the distribution of H1Bs, you'll quickly notice that most H1Bs do not go to people working for 'American' companies. Kind of defeats the purpose if you think about it.

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

#186

Post by CalRobert »

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'm an American who works in the EU. Getting my green card was not left to a lottery, and I had my permit in hand after three weeks.

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

#187

Post by ulfw »

afafsd wrote: post #179
hkmurakami wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With an auction system like that, basically every small business will be out of the picture then.

Why would that be?

Because a Google or Apple or Facebook can bid $100K+ to get someone a visa in this proposed auctioning system. A 10person startup couldn't reasonably.

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

#188

Post by [deleted] »

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?

[deleted]

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

#189

Post by neilk »

McDoku wrote: post #145
cperciva wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think if we ever start a second YC location, this will be the reason Please do. Tarsnap will apply to be part of YC Vancouver if it happens. (I'm assuming that if you create a YC somewhere outside of the US it would be in Vancouver, because really, nowhere else in the world is anywhere near as awesome.) FWIW, I think there's two "markets" of which you've only mentioned one -- in addition to founders who can't get U…

Real estate is better in Montreal. Was paying 2K for small loft 700sqft in Gastown vs 1.3K for a 1600sqft loft in Old Montreal with a view of the basilica. Startup dollars will go further here and the office will be twice as awesome. Much easier for new people to make friends and the art scene is not priced out. Montreal is undeniably more fun. And lord, the festivals... Mind you, winter lives here but it is sunny ev…

I've lived in Montreal (born & raised), Silicon Valley, and currently Vancouver.

You're right that in Montreal, investment dollars will go much further, and it is a more interesting city for a young person. If you are looking for a place to incubate, as a young company, Montreal might be almost perfect. Similarly, it's a great deal for a student.

But then you have to grow up and live there.

The tech talent pool is very thin, the laws are mindbogglingly perverse, and the taxes are very high. The French/English split becomes very difficult when you think about bringing more workers over from a non-francophone country, not to mention their spouses and partners.

Just like foreign students, a YC company that's growing up will probably want to get the hell out of Montreal.

At least in Vancouver you have some kind of chance to hang around, and if you want more techies there's a reasonable local talent pool, and people from the rest of the world don't mind moving here so much.

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

#190

Post by Dewie »

exstudent wrote: post #88
afafsd wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

If he had just said "talented", I suspect it would not have been controversial (at least that part). But "talent" often hints at heritage.
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