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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

#81

Post by darth_avocado »

0xcde4c3db wrote: post #55
quatrefoil wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lion's share of H-1Bs go to big tech companies where people make $250k a year or more. And where total comp of $400k+ is common for senior roles, with no regard for visa status. Yes, it alters market dynamics and the whole reason it's done is that the same skills are not available domestically for that price (or at all) - but talking about "low-wage labor" and "exploitation" as the whole point of the program is pre…

> A lion's share of H-1Bs go to big tech companies where people make $250k a year or more. And where total comp of $400k+ is common for senior roles, with no regard for visa status. Since you're apparently so acquainted with the stats, please enlighten us outsiders: what percentage of H-1B employees make $250K a year or more, and what percentage of H-1B employees make $400K+?

H1B salaries are public, but with the caveat that it only includes the base salary. So if you see someone getting paid $170k at Amazon, they actually make $170k + bonus at their level + equity that is almost as big as their salary. You can look at the public salaries, and compare them to the base of what people at their level get at the company they work for using levels.fyi to figure out how much they get paid.

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

#82

Post by cscurmudgeon »

quatrefoil wrote: post #39
dheera wrote: post #2

I find the entire H-1B program somewhat ridiculously designed. 0. There should be no cap for people who have received higher education degrees in the US. What's the point of educating people and equipping them with everything they need to be successful in the US, advance the US (including creating lots of jobs) and then deporting them right after? 1. There should be no cap for people who are going into STEM, AI, or o…

> There should be no cap for people who have received higher education degrees in the US. Then you're effectively creating a loophole. There would be a proliferation of private schools that accept anyone willing to pay enough $$$ and churn out barely-competent graduates just so that people have a better shot at citizenship. "Attended a school in the US" is not a good proxy for being an asset to the country. > There s…

You just described the problem with easy student loans.

The solution is same: tighten what qualifies for student loans and what is an asset to the country

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

#83

Post by cscurmudgeon »

bubblethink wrote: post #44
CPLX wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There should be no cap for people who have received higher education degrees in the US. This has the effect of delegating decisions about who enters the country to an unelected and unaccountable group of admissions officers working at private institutions.

That's something that the state and federal govt. can easily regulate through the Dept. of Education. The converse is more absurd. If I want to study X, and university Y wants me, why does a third party dictate anything here ?

Y is located in country Z and benefits from Z's public resources. Z can dictate here.

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

#84

Post by dheera »

BobaFloutist wrote: post #23
jedberg wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There should be no cap for people who have received higher education degrees in the US. Agree 100%. Student visas should convert to work visas automatically on graduation from an accredited institution and be good for at least five years.

And work visas should have built-in naturalization paths. There's no reason a highly educated, highly contributing member of society for the past 5-10 years should risk deportation if they get laid off, or, god forbid, quit due to working conditions.

Yeah I fully agree with this. I know multiple people on H1B visas who stayed at their jobs even in the face of sexual harrassment, deteriorating physical health, and depression, because of bad job markets and the stupid 60-day rule, and some subset of them already had family and kids in the US who were already adapted to US lifestyle and not ready to be uprooted to a foreign language and culture.

All they needed was some time off and time to recuperate and then some job searching time.

There is no reason someone who is already "effectively American" from a professional perspective should be uprooted and moved. They already thrive here, they already benefit this country, they should be allowed to stay indefinitely and continue to contribute.

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

#85

Post by sciencesama »

quatrefoil wrote: post #46
sverhagen wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no stake in the discussion, but "pay their talent the most" could be among comparable job titles, or something like that?

Then it's a race to the bottom with titles. You're no longer a software engineer, you're a "computer technician". H-1B is probably one of the most gamed and abused visa categories, perhaps next to marriage-related stuff.

But there are very few that are handed out !! Compared to illegal and marriage related ones and the bar is pretty high !!

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

#86

Post by dheera »

cscurmudgeon wrote: post #83
bubblethink wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's something that the state and federal govt. can easily regulate through the Dept. of Education. The converse is more absurd. If I want to study X, and university Y wants me, why does a third party dictate anything here ?

Y is located in country Z and benefits from Z's public resources. Z can dictate here.

No, Z invested resources in Y and Y is now a talent and economic asset to Z.

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

#87

Post by dilyevsky »

the_svd_doctor wrote: post #9
jedberg wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There should be no cap for people who have received higher education degrees in the US. Agree 100%. Student visas should convert to work visas automatically on graduation from an accredited institution and be good for at least five years.

With OPT and STEM OPT that’s _sort of_ the case, albeit for 3 years, not 5.

I think h1b itself is limited to 5 after which you have to leave for a year unless you already filed green card application. At least that was the case back in the day

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

#88

Post by nimish »

livinginfear wrote: post #63

When I looked into who is actually hiring H1-Bs, I was shocked to see it was mostly bodyshops. See: https://www.mbacrystalball.com/blog/2022/02/07/h1b-visa-stat... The majority of "Top H1-B Recruiters" are in the "Professional and Technical Services" industry. I think people imagine that most immigrants on H1-B visas are being paid princely sums directly by FAANG companies. Instead the reality looks like they're bein…

Ideally the admin would ban bodyshops from using the H-1B process, but that'd stop their benefactors' sources of cheap labor.

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

#90

Post by tziki »

jedberg wrote: post #4

It seems like it would be so easy to fix the H1-B program but no one wants to and I feel like I must be missing something. The purpose of the H1-B is to allow companies to hire foreigners with special skills that can't be found amongst US citizens. So why not just grant H1-Bs to the companies that are willing to pay their talent the most? Let any company apply and list a salary which they have to agree to pay for at…

Salaries vary by field. You can be an incredibly talented animation artist but you'll still get paid less than the average software engineer.
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