New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr • Hacker News Board

Re: New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

#211

Post by codeinstyle » Tue, Jan 31, 2017, 4:12 PM UTC

winter_blue wrote: post #121

anondon wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get the impression that this new bill is like putting lipstick on a pig which is the current system. I was hoping the amendments to the H1-B bill would be one of the silver linings of a Trump presidency, but I guess not anymore.

I've commented on this before, at: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13433540 I'm copying the comment below: --- I'm on an H-1B, and the thing that infuriates me about the dialogue on this is that they are effectively trying to ban skilled immigration, and exclude people like me from coming. If you don't qualify for the family-based or refugee route, employment-based immigration is the only viable pathway. The amo…

While I do agree that the current immigration laws need to change in order to allow for international students with a US college degree to pursue a life in the US, I believe that the original intent/purpose of the H1B was not to provide a way for new grads to stay in the US but rather to attract talented workers from abroad with skillsets that are hard to find in the US.

That being said, as someone in a similar boat (graduated from a US college, lived in the US for more than half of my life), I strongly believe that there is a need for a reform in US immigration laws. Even though I spent more than half my life in the States, I don't qualify for any programs/paths to pursue permanent residency in the US except for the H1B route.

Re: New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

#212

Post by mhurron » Tue, Jan 31, 2017, 4:13 PM UTC

doytch wrote: post #170

mhurron wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A Canadian would come in under a TN visa which is not a lottery, not H1-B. So again, how do H1-B changes affect a Canadian?

A lot of larger companies will switch you to an H1-B at some point since they're trying to put you on a Green Card track (bc of long-run costs? not sure). While you technically can apply for a green card on TN status, since TN is intended for temporary workers, it's frowned upon by DHS and immigration departments at companies know that. Source: I'm a two-time Canadian > US TN-to-H1B and eventually bailed out of the p…

TN can be extended indefinitely, so if you're being pressured to change to a H1-B you might want to ask why until you get a direct and specific answer.

Re: New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

#213

Post by ksajadi » Tue, Jan 31, 2017, 4:14 PM UTC

A Bill? Can we not just decree this down with an Executive Order or something?

Re: New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

#214

Post by ksajadi » Tue, Jan 31, 2017, 4:14 PM UTC

A Bill? Can we not just decree this down with an Executive Order or something?

Re: New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

#215

Post by webmaven » Tue, Jan 31, 2017, 4:15 PM UTC

ones_and_zeros wrote: post #25

Here is the summary straight from the horses mouth: https://lofgren.house.gov/uploadedfiles/high_skilled_bill_sx... A few points: - This does not raise the salary requirement to $130k/yr. This only applies to employers that do not want to do the extra paper work for "attestations regarding recruitment and non-displacement of U.S. workers" - It takes a "market based" allocation strategy which allows "cash bonuses and…

> Startups and small businesses will get 20% of the visas. It'll be interesting to see how this is gamed

Probably in exactly the same ways Federal contracts are gamed.

Re: New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

#216

Post by pook1e » Tue, Jan 31, 2017, 4:16 PM UTC

mhurron wrote: post #149

School-Cotton wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> who may want to move to the US

A Canadian would come in under a TN visa which is not a lottery, not H1-B. So again, how do H1-B changes affect a Canadian?

He may be looking to pursue a green card which is not possible with TN status.

Re: New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

#217

Post by koheripbal » Tue, Jan 31, 2017, 4:17 PM UTC

cobookman wrote: post #163

lokithor wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup. The fact that compensation is included, is useless. Companies give you unvested shares worth tonnes that take > 4 years to fully vest. The attrition rates are so high, the sweat shops can get away with it.

Sometimes I wish we could just fine Tata for going against the spirit of the h1b law. If its a large enough fine they might stop their shenanigans.

Tata is just one of MANY similar companies.

Re: New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

#218

Post by HeroOfAges » Tue, Jan 31, 2017, 4:18 PM UTC

pkd wrote: post #58

mnglkhn2 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your assumption is that the startup will have a chance of growing only if it has access to H1B. Why would local talent not be enough for that startup?

That is not my assumption at all. It is about casting a wider net. In an ideal world, the talent a company needs is available instantly and locally. But the world isn't ideal. Sometimes the talent is available instantly but not locally. Startups can't afford to train and develop developers as much as big companies can. It is in the interest of the startups to hire quickly and to hire as close to the profile they want…

I've been working for big companies (Fortune 100) exclusively as a contractor for the last four years. The unspoken expectation has been for me to be able to do the job well enough to produce production quality code without training.

Re: New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

#219

Post by webmaven » Tue, Jan 31, 2017, 4:18 PM UTC

Mvandenbergh wrote: post #166

tomp wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- It takes a "market based" allocation strategy which allows "cash bonuses and similar compensation" to be included. This is a joke. Honest question, why is this a joke?

It relies on the companies own estimate of the value of those bonuses... but bonuses are discretionary and the value of private company stock can be hard to determine. So you could have a salary of $90k, $10k of healthcare benefits, and $30k worth of "assumed" bonuses in the form of options, restricted shares, etc. which: a) you're not certain to get anyway (because they're bonuses) b) might not really be worth $30k

Even if you do get these bonuses, don't you pay taxes on the assumed value?

Re: New H1-B Visa bill doubles the salary requirements to $130K/yr

#220

Post by pkaye » Tue, Jan 31, 2017, 4:18 PM UTC

readhn wrote: post #84

angry_octet wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no shortage of biologists. Pay and conditions in the life sciences is abysmal. The sausage factory relies on graduates for cheap labour. So if foreign students knew the couldn't even get a poorly paid job after graduating, would they go elsewhere? Would this cause a collapse of the university pyramid scheme? Would labs have to start paying real living wages for staff? Lots less science would get done in the…

Let's hope you are not in a life/death situation later in your life where you get some disease for which treatment could have been available earlier if that foreign student was "allowed" to stay and do the work in the USA... All because of some delusional billionaire who is allowed (by us) to play his real life monopoly game.

But every decision made could have such a consequence. The US is still a more diverse country than most others with bright people everywhere. The universities have only so many space to accommodate students. We have no way to predict the future success of anyone. How can you not say in the same way that admitting a foreign student results in someone else local being denied an education who was "destined" to cure some disease?