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H-1B: Federal judge backs government’s narrower view of ‘specialty occupation’

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Re: H-1B: Federal judge backs government’s narrower view of ‘specialty occupation’

#121

Post by pandaman »

rayiner wrote: post #89
wharnal wrote: post #14

> Sagarwala, according to the ruling in Washington, D.C. U.S. District Court, received an H-1B visa in 2012, but those visas are tied to specific employers. So when she sought to change jobs in August last year, the prospective new employer, outsourcing firm HSK Technologies, had to go through the visa application process again. So she had lived in the US for six years and still had to beg the government for permissi…

An H1-B visa holder is, under the statute, a "non-immigrant alien" who is "temporarily" in the United States to perform a specialized occupation. 8 USC 1101(a)(15)(H)(1)(b). The fact that it's tied to a specific job is by design. H1-B is not intended to be an immigration path for skilled workers. (The fact that it is often used that way is just a by-product of the fact that the U.S. allows almost all non-short-term v…

There are not one, but two immigrant visas for skilled immigrants already. EB1A and EB2-NIW. No need to find a sponsoring employer, no requirement to prove that there are no qualified Americans, no salary requirements, almost no backlog even for people born in India and China, at least for the former.

It's the visa to get for the so-called "best and brightest". Of course, the catch is that you need to be really skilled and be able to prove it.

Re: H-1B: Federal judge backs government’s narrower view of ‘specialty occupation’

#122

Post by stbernardlove »

Signed up just to say this. I don't see the controversy in not counting QA analyst as a specialty position. Just look up what countries like Canada, UK, France consider specialty positions and understand that this isn't a controversy.

In fact, I was shocked that QA has been an H1B position in the United States. This is also why there are such massive backlogs for EB-3 for India, despite them getting circa 18% of the cap (7% + unused quota from ROW).

Re: H-1B: Federal judge backs government’s narrower view of ‘specialty occupation’

#123

Post by isbvhodnvemrwvn »

paxys wrote: post #36
duxup wrote: post #28

I'd really just like to see some sort of minimum pay that is relatively high so that is these are roles that are something the company feels strong enough to shell out the money. $120k? Something like that?

$120k qualifies for low income benefits in San Francisco, so yeah that's not going to matter.

Low income for a family of four IIRC, not for a single person.

Re: H-1B: Federal judge backs government’s narrower view of ‘specialty occupation’

#124

Post by nraynaud »

dudul wrote: post #116
nraynaud wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no immigrant visa for work as far as I know. There is no immigrant visa even to get married.

Why would you need an immigrant visa to get married? As soon as you're married you're supposed to apply for a green card. Green cards through marriage are prioritized, not capped and all.

because green cards take 1.5 years, EAD cards take more than 6 months (I have anecdotes of more than a year), and that's on top of the 7 months to get a K1 visa.

Re: H-1B: Federal judge backs government’s narrower view of ‘specialty occupation’

#126

Post by [deleted] »

yazan94 wrote: post #47
trustfundbaby wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The simple solution is to give every h1b worker a temporary green card or somehow allow them free mobility of work within the United states. Being allowed to move jobs at will, vs being beholden to the hiring companies for sponsorship, will quickly kill these body shops and also let us know if tech firms really are being honest about a shortage of skilled engineers.

I don't think this solution makes sense. I agree that , from an ethical standpoint, there should to be better protections for H1B holders. But giving everyone free reign to change jobs is also ripe for abusing the system and possibly flooding the market without a general way to gauge need for that particular H1B applicant's skillset. Currently, the process is that you need to find a company that is willing to sponsor…

[deleted]

Re: H-1B: Federal judge backs government’s narrower view of ‘specialty occupation’

#127

Post by stbernardlove »

throwaway082729 wrote: post #19
wharnal wrote: post #14

> Sagarwala, according to the ruling in Washington, D.C. U.S. District Court, received an H-1B visa in 2012, but those visas are tied to specific employers. So when she sought to change jobs in August last year, the prospective new employer, outsourcing firm HSK Technologies, had to go through the visa application process again. So she had lived in the US for six years and still had to beg the government for permissi…

I've been here for 17+ years, earn $650k/yr and I'm still in the same boat. I'm at the mercy of the govt. if I want to change jobs. Moreover, I need to restart the labor certification process and reapply for my green card though I get to keep the same priority date. There's no end in sight i.e. I cannot predict when I'll get my green card due to the per-country cap and backlog. Worse, I cannot quit and take time off…

Alright, drama queen, so you're saying that H1B holders can't take PTO or even unpaid time off? If so, I have empirical evidence that disproves your point ;) What you meant to say is you can't be in between jobs, but even then, you're allowed up to 60 days.

GC backlogs suck. Kids aging out is just evil and wrong and needs to be fixed. But don't blame the backlog on country caps. If there were never any caps, you would still be backlogged, just by 1-2 years less, and the rest of the world would be backlogged as well.

The root of the issue is applicants like the person mentioned in the article taking up space in the backlog, regardless of the job that they do or their experience. You can be a fresh graduate or a seasoned professional with decades of experience, but be in the same EB-2 queue. Looking forward to seeing what the White House bill will look like, but the US definitely needs to more merit in its immigration system.

Re: H-1B: Federal judge backs government’s narrower view of ‘specialty occupation’

#128

Post by paxys »

dudul wrote: post #117
paxys wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Six years would be a blessing. Most people I know have been waiting 10 years or longer. The green card queue for the vast majority of applicants today is essentially infinite, even if you stay in the same job at the same company.

Isn't it only true for applicants from India and China? As far as I know (and I may be mistaken, this is just what my immigration lawyer told me a while ago) for all other countries it's not that bad, rarely passed a few years.

India, China, Mexico, Philippines and a few others. But the vast majority of the applicants are from these countries.

Re: H-1B: Federal judge backs government’s narrower view of ‘specialty occupation’

#129

Post by stbernardlove »

abc_lisper wrote: post #20
wharnal wrote: post #14

> Sagarwala, according to the ruling in Washington, D.C. U.S. District Court, received an H-1B visa in 2012, but those visas are tied to specific employers. So when she sought to change jobs in August last year, the prospective new employer, outsourcing firm HSK Technologies, had to go through the visa application process again. So she had lived in the US for six years and still had to beg the government for permissi…

:) I am in US for 18 years now, have a master's degree and work at a FANG company, and don't have a GC yet. I am not saying this to seek sympathy, but things are way worse than they look. The system is gamified by outsourcing companies and body shops, that are more worried about their people in, play the numbers game and clog the H-1B and GC routes, make it difficult for everyone who is trying to do quality work with…

Thank you for saying how it is and now just blaming on "racist country caps". We might abolish caps tomorrow, but you'll still be as backlogged as you were before.

Re: H-1B: Federal judge backs government’s narrower view of ‘specialty occupation’

#130

Post by stbernardlove »

tbyehl wrote: post #105
abc_lisper wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

H-1B is dual-intent. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_intent

It became dual-intent, which lead to everyone's intent becoming to immigrate, which has lead to incredibly long processing times... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_Act_of_1990

Can you explain how is anyone supposed to convince a US company to spend 2 years and tens of thousands of dollars to sponsor a candidate for an immigrant visa WHILE THEY ARE STILL IN THEIR HOME COUNTRY?

For real though, name me a company that hired someone knowing they couldn't start for 2 years, while they get PERM, i-140 etc.

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