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U.S. Changes Visa Process for High-Skilled Workers

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Re: U.S. Changes Visa Process for High-Skilled Workers

#61
post #57

This will make getting work visas even harder for folks with only U.S. undergrad degrees. Expect growth in 4+1 and 3+1 integrated Masters programs to compensate. Prioritizing people with U.S. degrees is a pretty reasonable move. And given the existing structure, prioritizing U.S. Masters degrees is also reasonable. But a B.S. in CS is qualitatively equivalent to an M.S. The lack of nuance is not surprising but still…

"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?

Re: U.S. Changes Visa Process for High-Skilled Workers

#62

Honestly this is a good thing. Right now the H1B is a bullshit immigration program for cheap engineers from India and China designed to depress wages in silicon valley. A change is sorely needed, this is not big enough but it's definitely a step.

What a weird world we live in though, where PhDs and Masters with a steady job still have to wait 7-10+ years for citizenship, while people can just flip over the fence in the southern border and get citizenship via asylum or birthing kids

You can't get citizenship by giving birth in the US. And asylum is a special case, it's not really a normal immigration route.

Re: U.S. Changes Visa Process for High-Skilled Workers

#63

Honestly this is a good thing. Right now the H1B is a bullshit immigration program for cheap engineers from India and China designed to depress wages in silicon valley. A change is sorely needed, this is not big enough but it's definitely a step.

No way. Fewer H1 visas means that instead of having foreign workers here on visas performing work, the functions will move elsewhere. If the government was setting up a program to fund boot camps for ERP and other big boring tech like what is done in India and elsewhere, that would be different. But we’re not doing that.

And time and time again it's been shown that outsourcing doesn't really work that well. If it was just about the money, they wouldn't bother sponsoring H1Bs at all. They would just outsource from the start, and why wouldn't they? Unless the skills aren't there to lead a team from abroad with an 8hr time zone difference.

Re: U.S. Changes Visa Process for High-Skilled Workers

#64
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you aware that SSNs have absolutely nothing to do with copyright law? They aren't covered by that.

I'm responding to "information wants to be free". I don't think the quote is "only copyrighted information wants to be free"

The thread is specifically about copyright information.

I am not sure why you made a comment about completely unrelated information that has nothing to do with the fundamental question regarding copyrighted information.

The term "information wants to be free", obviously is about the commericalization of information. It has nothing to do with privacy.

Re: U.S. Changes Visa Process for High-Skilled Workers

#65

Honestly this is a good thing. Right now the H1B is a bullshit immigration program for cheap engineers from India and China designed to depress wages in silicon valley. A change is sorely needed, this is not big enough but it's definitely a step.

Even if we assume your assessment of the problem ("H1B is a bullshit immigration program for cheap engineers from India and China designed to depress wages in silicon valley.") is correct, how is this step taking us towards a solution?

Re: U.S. Changes Visa Process for High-Skilled Workers

#66
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 cumbersome.

Re: U.S. Changes Visa Process for High-Skilled Workers

#68

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 step toward the "staple a green card" immigration policy supported by both republicans and democrats. It's essentially a reversal from the historical "tired, poor, huddled masses" policy of immigration in America to something that is more in line with the rest of the neoliberal world.

Re: U.S. Changes Visa Process for High-Skilled Workers

#69

Honestly this is a good thing. Right now the H1B is a bullshit immigration program for cheap engineers from India and China designed to depress wages in silicon valley. A change is sorely needed, this is not big enough but it's definitely a step.

What a weird world we live in though, where PhDs and Masters with a steady job still have to wait 7-10+ years for citizenship, while people can just flip over the fence in the southern border and get citizenship via asylum or birthing kids

The PhD on my team got through in less than 7. The immigrants crossing the southern border are still going through the same process, don't know why someone wanting a better life should cause high-skilled workers much worry.

Re: U.S. Changes Visa Process for High-Skilled Workers

#70

Honestly this is a good thing. Right now the H1B is a bullshit immigration program for cheap engineers from India and China designed to depress wages in silicon valley. A change is sorely needed, this is not big enough but it's definitely a step.

The idea that those on H1B visas are bringing wages down for software engineers is a popular one. Is it supported by data?

If it isn’t, this is just thinly veiled xenophobia.

Personally, I think the more diverse groups have an opportunity to come to America legally, the better.

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