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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

#181

Post by Zedseayou »

the_svd_doctor wrote: post #8
CPLX wrote: post #3

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

Before, multiple companies could register the same person for the lottery, therefore increasing the odds for said person. This is now no longer possible. Why it took so long to implement this rule is a mystery though. Seems like such an obvious loophole.

It used to be much more expensive to make an H1B petition so this strategy was not viable. Then they made it way cheaper, leading to the mass applications.

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

#182

Post by 15457345234 »

medvezhenok wrote: post #176
15457345234 wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> wages will go up The issue is that tech can pay exorbitant salaries compared to physical-world companies as the product they're producing has infinite reach and is often 'evergreen' It's the same issue as investment banking; when you can almost literally print the money you're paying salaries with you can hire everyone at any price. The issue is, that leads to the smartest people in the country all ending up at 'vi…

You just have to turn off the money printer and watch the tech money dry up (What we’re seeing now)

you love to see it

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

#183

Post by dixie_land »

trimethylpurine wrote: post #118
dixie_land wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not being hyperbolic, ALL of H1B friends I personally know makes 250+ total comp. Many makes around that in base salary. ( most my friends are late 20 and early 30s )

Are they really doing jobs that Americans wouldn't or couldn't do for that amount? Honestly curious about your opinion, since they are your friends.

As another commenter mentioned you may or may not consider my experience as selection bias. So with that out of the way:

- all H1B friends I know obviously are from work; I used to work at one of the FAANGs - these friends are in late 20s and above, so at least SDE 2 if not more senior - you can verify at levels.fyi that 250+ TC is normal for these roles

I'm interviewing a lot for my company and I recall in the height of the hiring boom that peaked around 21, we really are throwing out 200-300 TCs for fresh graduates, Americans or not

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

#184

Post by kube-system »

trimethylpurine wrote: post #177
kube-system wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The data at those links indicate the demand for child care workers is more than 40x the demand for physicists and astronomers combined. Yet, childcare workers make only slightly more than 1/5th the wage. This is because skilled labor is not fungible and different jobs are on different demand curves.

Maybe I misunderstand your argument. I thought your main point was that pay may be high despite demand being low, and vice versa. I'm sure there are exceptional cases where this is true, but the examples you provided illustrate something very much counter to your point. In your examples, pay and demand are low for all three professions, chemists, child care workers, and astronomers, according to the BoL.

My point is that each profession has its own independent supply and demand equilibrium, and not every market even operates at equilibrium. The relative wages of two entirely independent markets for labor don't indicate relative demand.

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

#185

Post by rayiner »

appplication wrote: post #174
rayiner wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Of the non-US native ones that I interact with, they all absolutely love our job and/or employer. I've asked them about it, and I generally get the sense that I could not survive in the conditions from which they originally came -- both at work and outside of work My dad’s an H1. (Before they created H1B in 1990.) He grew up in a village in Bangladesh. One out of five kids died by the age of five. He came in as a s…

This comment made me realize sometimes I’m such an entitled shit. Lately I’d been feeling legitimately depressed that I seem to have hit a career plateau, despite that plateau occurring at a very generous salary.

You shouldn’t feel bad for having higher expectations.

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

#186

Post by fooker »

dartharva wrote: post #142
fooker wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's what will happen if they do that: A large number of universities will go under without tuition fees from international students. Professors will leave these universities to pursue industry careers, soneven if the job market recovers the universities won't. Without competent specialized people from the universities, US will lose the tech edge very very quickly. Cutting edge tech requires a large number of peopl…

H-1B is a work visa, not a student visa. And I highly doubt the kind of universities that rely on tuition revenues from foreign students are ones leading the US's tech edge. The universities that actually matter in this regard will be well-equipped to survive a small setback of less foreign admissions.

>H-1B is a work visa, not a student visa.

  H-1B is the primary path for international MS and PhD students to work in the US.
> kind of universities that rely on tuition revenues from foreign students are ones leading the US's tech edge

That's all universities except community colleges.

>he universities that actually matter in this regard will be well-equipped to survive a small setback of less foreign admissions.

Possible, I'd not bet on it. There is a reason the immigration rules are as they are, and are pretty difficult to overhaul.

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

#187

Post by fooker »

room500 wrote: post #153
fooker wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's what will happen if they do that: A large number of universities will go under without tuition fees from international students. Professors will leave these universities to pursue industry careers, soneven if the job market recovers the universities won't. Without competent specialized people from the universities, US will lose the tech edge very very quickly. Cutting edge tech requires a large number of peopl…

I think you would see the opposite. You would incentivize going to grad school for a few years under a student visa. Universities could name their price.

> You would incentivize going to grad school for a few years under a student visa.

That's a significant change in immigration policy that's not covered in 'pause H1B'. I agree in principle that if you align the incentives like this, it would work out.

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

#188

Post by nojvek »

WirelessGigabit wrote: post #179

I think part of the issue is that H-1B is a non-immigrant visa. It's ridiculous for a country like the US to expect people to move their whole household for ... 6 years? H-1B is actually slightly better than an L1*. At least with the H-1B you are allowed to change jobs if the new employer wants to do the paperwork. For the L1 you can't do that. The visa is tied to the current employer. You leave? You're out.

With L1/L2 your partner can work.

H1B is more complex for spouse to work.

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

#189

Post by trimethylpurine »

kube-system wrote: post #184
trimethylpurine wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I misunderstand your argument. I thought your main point was that pay may be high despite demand being low, and vice versa. I'm sure there are exceptional cases where this is true, but the examples you provided illustrate something very much counter to your point. In your examples, pay and demand are low for all three professions, chemists, child care workers, and astronomers, according to the BoL.

My point is that each profession has its own independent supply and demand equilibrium, and not every market even operates at equilibrium. The relative wages of two entirely independent markets for labor don't indicate relative demand.

Okay. I didn't make that comparison. I see why you might though. For clarity, my point isn't that they make less than any comparable. It's that taking into consideration the cost of acquiring the degree, it's unusual that the pay would be about median in keeping with uneducated laborers. An explanation like unusually low demand (or market saturation) is likely to be the cause of that pay deficit. In this case, it appears to be in fact.

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

#190

Post by trimethylpurine »

dixie_land wrote: post #183
trimethylpurine wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are they really doing jobs that Americans wouldn't or couldn't do for that amount? Honestly curious about your opinion, since they are your friends.

As another commenter mentioned you may or may not consider my experience as selection bias. So with that out of the way: - all H1B friends I know obviously are from work; I used to work at one of the FAANGs - these friends are in late 20s and above, so at least SDE 2 if not more senior - you can verify at levels.fyi that 250+ TC is normal for these roles I'm interviewing a lot for my company and I recall in the heigh…

Interesting. Thanks for sharing this.
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