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USCIS announces strengthened integrity measures for H-1B program

uscis.gov

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Re: USCIS announces strengthened integrity measures for H-1B program

#11

Post by tonmoy »

jedberg wrote: post #4

It seems like it would be so easy to fix the H1-B program but no one wants to and I feel like I must be missing something. The purpose of the H1-B is to allow companies to hire foreigners with special skills that can't be found amongst US citizens. So why not just grant H1-Bs to the companies that are willing to pay their talent the most? Let any company apply and list a salary which they have to agree to pay for at…

Because then the agricultural company in Alabama wanting to hire the brightest chemist will be at a disadvantage compared to the IT firm in California. Forgetting about the cost of living adjustments for each area the industry wide disruption alone may not be worth it

Re: USCIS announces strengthened integrity measures for H-1B program

#13

Post by ycitizen »

CPLX wrote: post #3

This is interesting. Does anyone know what tactics they’re trying to stop? Sounds like something specific.

I think USCIS is trying to fix one common misuse by certain applicants where he /she applies for H1B through more than one employers ( typically body shop companies) and tries to increase his\her odds of getting the visa. Sometimes the applicant gets more than one H1B visa and wasting the limited visas.

Re: USCIS announces strengthened integrity measures for H-1B program

#14

Post by badFEengineer »

CPLX wrote: post #3

This is interesting. Does anyone know what tactics they’re trying to stop? Sounds like something specific.

yeah, I've heard a bit about this- basically, it is technically legal right now to have multiple job offers from separate employers to get multiple H1B lottery tickets. The abuse comes from some shady operations, that will basically give you 3-10 "offers" from various consulting firms, where you'll be paid way less than market rate to work at any of them, with the idea being if you win a ticket from any then you trade off your potential salary for the H1b.

Re: USCIS announces strengthened integrity measures for H-1B program

#15

Post by CPLX »

jedberg wrote: post #10
CPLX wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There should be no cap for people who have received higher education degrees in the US. This has the effect of delegating decisions about who enters the country to an unelected and unaccountable group of admissions officers working at private institutions.

Only if the student can graduate. And you can easily fix that by requiring a government review after school admission.

We already have the OPT program. The idea of a limitless uncapped program for graduates is a different thing entirely.

Re: USCIS announces strengthened integrity measures for H-1B program

#16

Post by aatharuv »

dheera wrote: post #2

I find the entire H-1B program somewhat ridiculously designed. 0. There should be no cap for people who have received higher education degrees in the US. What's the point of educating people and equipping them with everything they need to be successful in the US, advance the US (including creating lots of jobs) and then deporting them right after? 1. There should be no cap for people who are going into STEM, AI, or o…

There's been a massive problem of diploma mills, both in America, and even worse in Canada, where colleges have basically been admitting students for fake degrees for pay, just because it gets them work permits post graduation much more easily, as somewhat of a workaround Canadian immigration.

Canada recently has cracked down on (I believe undergraduate) student visas recently, with effectively a per-province cap. I'm not sure if Canada has a problem with diploma mills at the Master's level though.

Re: USCIS announces strengthened integrity measures for H-1B program

#17

Post by kelnos »

CPLX wrote: post #5
dheera wrote: post #2

I find the entire H-1B program somewhat ridiculously designed. 0. There should be no cap for people who have received higher education degrees in the US. What's the point of educating people and equipping them with everything they need to be successful in the US, advance the US (including creating lots of jobs) and then deporting them right after? 1. There should be no cap for people who are going into STEM, AI, or o…

> There should be no cap for people who have received higher education degrees in the US. This has the effect of delegating decisions about who enters the country to an unelected and unaccountable group of admissions officers working at private institutions.

Private and public; don't forget that there are many, many public colleges and universities in the US. And presumably this would be limited to accredited higher-education institutions; you couldn't just stand up Butts University, start issuing degrees in Flatulence and Cheekiness, and have met the criteria. And maybe it's not just anyone who graduates from a US institution; maybe limit it to certain levels of achievement, and/or certain fields that the US has interest in developing or maintaining competence or dominance in.

I get your objection about unelected/unaccountable, but this happens all the time, and is normal, expected, and unavoidable. The government very often reaches outside itself for expert opinions on things that it cannot or should not develop its own expertise in.

The current system is stupid. Educating foreigners in the US and then kicking them out (absent something with the intentions of a Fullbright, for example) is just bad policy.

Re: USCIS announces strengthened integrity measures for H-1B program

#19

Post by ldjkfkdsjnv »

dheera wrote: post #2

I find the entire H-1B program somewhat ridiculously designed. 0. There should be no cap for people who have received higher education degrees in the US. What's the point of educating people and equipping them with everything they need to be successful in the US, advance the US (including creating lots of jobs) and then deporting them right after? 1. There should be no cap for people who are going into STEM, AI, or o…

Higher education in the usa can be a degree mill in nebraska with no real acceptance criteria

Re: USCIS announces strengthened integrity measures for H-1B program

#20

Post by vsskanth »

jedberg wrote: post #4

It seems like it would be so easy to fix the H1-B program but no one wants to and I feel like I must be missing something. The purpose of the H1-B is to allow companies to hire foreigners with special skills that can't be found amongst US citizens. So why not just grant H1-Bs to the companies that are willing to pay their talent the most? Let any company apply and list a salary which they have to agree to pay for at…

Administration A introduced a rule prioritizing higher wage levels, got blocked by the courts and Administration B rescinded it.
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