121–130 of 637 posts
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H1-B holders can change jobs. The employer you're going to has to sponsor you and then you can just do an H1-B transfer.
The process is a nightmare. I've changed 3 jobs under H1B.
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"Prioritizing people with U.S. degrees is a pretty reasonable move. And given the existing structure, prioritizing U.S. Masters degrees is also reasonable." - Why do you think so?
Roughly three parts to this. First off, these folks are already "here" . Busy learning to America. Paying tuition to their schools and taxes from their internships/OPTs. Contributing and being contributed to so that there's already a relationship between them, the country, and the country's citizens. This is also what a lot of other countries do so it's consistent with "the way things are done". Finally, it seems pol…
As an expat for the bigger part of my life I can't think of a country that would prioritize their own institutions when applying for a visa. Generally there's simply a category for advanced degree holders.
I've worked with a few H1-B holders in Silicon Valley and they're awesome. A great improvement would be to allow H1B holders to change jobs easily (maybe after a year). It's too easy for them to get stuck in not great situations. It would be great for everyone if they could move to better fitting jobs, especially for startups who have trouble running H1-B programs. If you are, like me, a software engineer, you should…
From your own cite:
>Immigrant workers can either be substitutes for native-born workers or complements to them. When immigrant workers are substitutes for native-born workers, they compete for similar jobs. Using a simple supply and demand model, an influx of substitutable workers constitutes an increase in the supply of labor, causing wages to fall for workers with similar skills. Because many immigrants are low-skilled workers, economic studies have found that an influx of immigrants depresses wages for low-skilled native-born workers in the short run.6 And, because many immigrants are also high-skilled, a similar substitution effect occurs for some high-skilled workers.
It goes on to talk about complementary workers:
>. For example, consider that immigrant workers account for 22 percent of the construction workforce. They tend to pursue jobs in the construction industry that require less training and education but are areas where the industry has its largest labor shortages—such as painters, drywall installers, and construction laborers.7 This supply of immigrant labor has decreased the cost and presumably increased the number of homes produced and sold over time. The increase in housing construction has increased the demand for higher-skilled construction workers such as contractors, electricians, and plumbers
While that's a nice thought, it isn't comforting to those that aren't contractors, electricians, or plumbers. They need those low skill positions in order to gain the experience to move into higher skilled ones. The hardest job for a programmer to get is their first one. Especially those that don't come from a traditional CS background. This is really where the H1B visa hurts American workers. Companies would much rather go for an immigrant on an H1B visa than train Americans to do the work.
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I think you’re putting the cart before the horse. Why is there a shortage of low skilled workers in a country of 400m? Because you have illegal workers who’ve driven the price of that work below what the market legally supports. If the law was effectively enforced those low skilled jobs would pay enough for Americans
Vegetable and dairy farmers would go out of business, if prices can't be raised due to competition from imports. You'd need tariffs as well, and people would need to put up with significant price increases at the grocery store. There are not many Americans who want their kids to grow up to be farmhands or migrant workers. If you can speak English, you're better off in retail. For immigrants, there is a valuable benef…
In the middle of the US, there are lots of (white) Americans that work in these jobs. Many are very proud of their profession.
Next time you want to go on a trip to "expand your horizons", go to a podunk town in a fly-over state and get to know your fellow Americans.
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When H1s are used to displace American workers at a lower cost, I am not sure “cheering all immigrants” is warranted. Some, but definitely not all. The Disney firings happened. And it has happened in many other places that aren’t as famous. When Disney has H1s displacing Americans who were already doing the job, that isn’t a “shortage,” which is the single purpose for which H1B was created. I am not disputing the val…
I am wondering how not having H1B could have helped the Disney employees though. If Disney wants to cut costs and hire cheaper labor (presumably why they hired H1Bs? I don't know), they could as well move the jobs offshore. Now the US is losing out on much more than just the jobs. What am I missing here?
My now wife went through so much trouble with her H1-B, even though she graduated with a Master's from a United States university and was working in the United States. Yet she got stuck in the lottery system. Don't we want high skilled workers contributing to the economy? Even when we got married, we had to wait over a year for her green card for her and went through an interview. The immigration system is tough and…
With the new system, she will have a better chance at getting the visa. Why the concern? Edit: I'm being down voted, but I don't understand. The change actually prioritizes MS students.
It would have been a positive change if they did not have the restriction that the Masters must be from a US university. What's wrong with non-US universities? I don't see why degree even matters. Like someone suggested in a previous similar thread, just sorting by pay and giving higher wages more priority (perhaps with some sort of normalization to compensate for cost of living and the field of work) is much better.
It's a gamble to come to America to get educated (cost, cultural adjustment, visa issues), and I think that we should show preference to those students who have made that extra effort to live and study in America over other people.
Seems like the US had the moral high ground prioritizing the down and out, now just another country only accessible if you have $$.
Against common misconception, it's important to know that H1B also compete for an open job requisition like everyone else. Sadly, H1Bs are eligible to apply only for a small percentage of the open requisitions which often read - only W2 need apply (implying people with green cards / work authorizations or citizens) and sometimes explicitly as - 'accepting applications from green card holders and citizens only'.
H1B are also mostly 'stuck' to their current jobs / positions and do not have the flexibility to switch jobs (until they reach a certain stage in their visa). They're allowed to switch but this requires the hiring org to reprocess their green card application from scratch in majority of the cases. This is especially true from people from India and China.
It's one thing to say - you're allowed to switch, it another to be able to actually do it without getting penalized or expect your hiring org to invest into your green card process.
I could go on but i'd sum this up as there's more to h1b than meets the eye and what's out there isn't a true and complete representation of an Indian or Chinese h1b worker. It's tough to be in the shoes of an H1B who's worked and lived here and made a life for his family, yet lives in fear and uncertainty of losing his job or work authorization everyday.
Selection for a job should be based on merit and your personal / professional qualifications among other factors, and not with a bias towards your visa status. The best man for the job.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
With the new system, she will have a better chance at getting the visa. Why the concern? Edit: I'm being down voted, but I don't understand. The change actually prioritizes MS students.
Why should anyone be happy when there's a chance they won't be allowed to work? Even if the chance is lower, it's still something to be concerned about. (Edited)
>Even if the chance is lower, it's still not right.
If you accept that there needs to be some criterion, then it's simply a matter of where the line is drawn - and most people draw the line that conveniently works for them. For the person who posted this, the change in rules improves the chances of someone in the situation his wife was in.
I've worked with a few H1-B holders in Silicon Valley and they're awesome. A great improvement would be to allow H1B holders to change jobs easily (maybe after a year). It's too easy for them to get stuck in not great situations. It would be great for everyone if they could move to better fitting jobs, especially for startups who have trouble running H1-B programs. If you are, like me, a software engineer, you should…
A great improvement would be to give them citizenship if they want it. The economic impact of immigrants is not under debate, however your examples are poor choices as I don't think any of those people came to the US on an H1B visa. If anything it's an argument against H1B.