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Updates to H-1B

uscis.gov

411–420 of 1001 posts

Re: Updates to H-1B

#411

Surprised by all the negativity here. The USA benefits enormously from skilled immigration: "doubling the size of the US H1B visa program increases US and EU growth by 4% in the long-run" From a recent paper here: https://academic.oup.com/qje/advance-article-abstract/doi/10...

I am not surprised.

People don't like the fact that they actually need to be competitive in skills to get a job. Had there been no H-1Bs, they could submit a resume and immediately get a job offer!

No joke. I look around in my company, Indians and Chinese (among others) are good at their jobs and do amazing work.

Some people just don't like that. They blame not being able to get a good job offer on Indians taking away the opportunity, not themselves being good developers.

This post is the place where they can vent.

Re: Updates to H-1B

#412
post #384

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, we pay well. No, we don't pay as much as Meta. How well do you pay? If I were at Meta, my total comp would be 500-600k. I make half that at a small startup. Can you afford me?

No they cannot, unless maybe you have advanced degrees and a couple decades experience.

Yeah but then you're too old. Need to be in your 20s with a couple decades of experience.

Re: Updates to H-1B

#413
post #411

Surprised by all the negativity here. The USA benefits enormously from skilled immigration: "doubling the size of the US H1B visa program increases US and EU growth by 4% in the long-run" From a recent paper here: https://academic.oup.com/qje/advance-article-abstract/doi/10...

I am not surprised. People don't like the fact that they actually need to be competitive in skills to get a job. Had there been no H-1Bs, they could submit a resume and immediately get a job offer! No joke. I look around in my company, Indians and Chinese (among others) are good at their jobs and do amazing work. Some people just don't like that. They blame not being able to get a good job offer on Indians taking awa…

You have had a very different experience with h1b workers then I have.

Re: Updates to H-1B

#414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only in the context of H1B does anyone conceive of tech workers as having a binary condition called "qualified." In white-collar jobs worth having, impact scales essentially infinitely with skill. You aren't looking for people who are merely capable of some baseline, you are looking for the best. The world is much bigger than America, so even if Americans are very good, many of the best are still foreigners.

H1B doesn't test for skill. It is a lottery. And judging from the skill of hundreds of H1Bs I've worked with, it is a failure of a system.

where the F do you work when you are surrounded by “hundreds of H1Bs” - at the airport’s baggage claim when they arrive?

Re: Updates to H-1B

#415

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Didn’t the rule change last year where all applications by same person is considered as one?

Yup but they actually can't check.

Dude that's just not true. You need to submit almost every single detail about yourself before the lottery, including information on your passport. In fact this has dramatically decreased the duplicate entries to H1B lottery.

Re: Updates to H-1B

#416

Surprised by all the negativity here. The USA benefits enormously from skilled immigration: "doubling the size of the US H1B visa program increases US and EU growth by 4% in the long-run" From a recent paper here: https://academic.oup.com/qje/advance-article-abstract/doi/10...

Yeah. Do people really think that Silicon Valley would be such a huge economy (and a huge job creator for US citizens) if the US had never allowed immigrants to work there?

Re: Updates to H-1B

#417

A supposed shortage of qualified US applicants for tech jobs, especially software developers, doesn't jibe with the huge numbers of US developers currently looking for work, including highly experienced older workers suffering from age discrimination. I'd be surprised if more than 5-10% of H-1B positions are ones where the hiring company has even looked for US applicants.

I used to work for the U.S. Naval Undersea Warfare Centers, and it was a pretty good experience.

U.S. citizens (and perhaps some dual-citizens) might want to look into such places (Navy warfare centers, NRL, ARL, etc.)

TL;DR:

The top starting pay is about $150k IIRC, which I'm told is somewhat below what a well-funded defense contractor will pay for really good people.

But I worked with some great people, the work was interesting, and it was located in a medium-cost-of-living area.

I left because of the siren call of the startup scene, and frustration with some bureaucratic stuff. But in retrospect I actually liked working there the best.

Re: Updates to H-1B

#418
post #400

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unlikely to be reversed. The incoming president's largest donor strongly favors a larger and more dynamic H1-B work force.

The same president used coronavirus as an excuse to ban all H1B entries.

those were then times, now billionaires shelled out a whole lot of money to put him in power and payback time is coming. h1b may double/triple/… in the coming years. policy will be to keep “bad people out” (southern border) while taking in a bunch of “smart people, best people” from other countries

Re: Updates to H-1B

#419
post #384

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My employer cannot hire H-1Bs. You must be a US citizen to work for my company. No "US Persons" (visa holders) or foreigners allowed. You have to be eligible for a Secret security clearance. You don't have to get one if you don't want to as there is usually plenty of uncleared work to go around, but you have to be eligible in case that goes away and we need to put you in for a clearance. We cannot find qualified appl…

Yes, we pay well. No, we don't pay as much as Meta. How well do you pay? If I were at Meta, my total comp would be 500-600k. I make half that at a small startup. Can you afford me?

How many years of experience?

I fall almost exactly on the low end of this range: https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/senior-aerospace-engineer...

With 15 years of experience.

I'm at the low end of my peers.

Like I said, auctioning off access to your users to advertisers pays better than the European space agency.

Re: Updates to H-1B

#420
post #410

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My employer cannot hire H-1Bs. You must be a US citizen to work for my company. No "US Persons" (visa holders) or foreigners allowed. You have to be eligible for a Secret security clearance. You don't have to get one if you don't want to as there is usually plenty of uncleared work to go around, but you have to be eligible in case that goes away and we need to put you in for a clearance. We cannot find qualified appl…

> You must be a US citizen to work for my company. No "US Persons" (visa holders) or foreigners allowed. This is illegal under IRCA unless another law or government contract mandates it. [1] If every single role at your company requires a Secret clearance, then I question how separate “your part of the company” really is from the part that makes weapons. [1] https://www.eeoc.gov/national-origin-discrimination

Obviously this company is a government contractor.
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