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Annual H-1B Visa Cap Met In One Day
CNet is reporting that the door has closed on the H1-B visa application process for this year, one day after it began. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services said that it had received 150,000 applications as of yesterday afternoon. 65,000 H1-B visas can be issued for foreigners with bachelor's degrees. The USCIS will choose randomly from the applications to determine the winners.
Who would want to work in the US anyway?
Better off heading to Europe.
Those spots should be auctioned off. The more an employer is paying for an H1-B visa, the more highly-skilled the worker in question is likely to be. IOW, we really will be getting those people with skills we can't find here.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Batchelor degrees, eh? Didn't know you could get those too.
batchelor's degrees? shouldn't this be bachelor's degree?
Maybe the US is simply recognizing that our own standards have fallen so low that when a foriegn-born individual comes waving his or her "batchelor's degree", we welcome them with open arms because we are none-the-wiser.
Support the 30 Hour Work Week!!!
Kdawson, please suck my balls. Hard. Really hard. You make this site suck even more than it normally would. It's half as bad as digg at this point. You actually submitted a headline where the moron spelled it batchelor
Is there anyone else here who thinks this is an indication that we need more Visas?
While millions of unskilled illegals flood our borders every year, stressing our social safety net, the people we want in this country can't get in. We need more skilled workers who want to work within the system and work here legally and fewer unskilled workers who end up with a free ride at taxpayer's--mine and your--expense.
There's a simple solution to the H-1B visa problem: Open offices in Canada, where a skilled worker who can speak English and has a job offer is practically guaranteed a visa. Vancouver in the same time zone as Silicon Valley, only a 2 hour flight away, and has a lower cost of living than any large city on the US west coast. Add to that two great universities, a moderate climate, and some of the best skiing in the world, in addition to all the usual amenities of a large city, and it's no surprise that Vancouver is routinely rated as one of the best places to live in the world. What are all you guys waiting for?
. )
(This post brought to you by I-want-a-job-and-don't-want-to-move-to-California
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How is this visa now different from the green card lottery? This has made my job searching really difficult in the US. No company wants to hire me because they cannot guarantee me the job even if I qualify.
On a related note: Did you know (according to my lawyer) that the cap does not apply to Indians and Chinese? This is another reason companies would rather hire from those two countries. My guess is that the US govt is trying to steal China and India's intellectual capital.
...can be issued for foreigners with batchelor's degrees Apparently a bachelor's degree is not enough training to use spell check.Come on... Do most countries do it that way?
Perhaps
Apparently, they're more qualified than some of the natives.
The profits from the visa auctions could be used to retrain/pay unemployment for the workers getting replaced. Just like the 'lotteries paying for school' thing all those states do. And we know they'd never, ever raid that cash for other stuff... right?
Have you been touched by his noodly appendage?
Put them on eBay, a new batch every week, and make the Government some money. Then we'd find out what the real demand is.
There's practically no demand for them at the moment which makes it much easier to get them, since they'll never use up the maximum allotment per year (10,500). The application process is a pain in the ass (I'm here on one), but I imagine that's the case with all visas. If you're interested, I found this FAQ rather helpful.
For the record, this came out of the recent FTA between the USA and Australia. So at least we got something of it.
The requirement for a degree in any CS profession is artificial. My degree is in Chemistry, and yet I work as a software engineer. My job isn't especially hard, and certainly two trained monkeys could do it.
Never seen a Bitchalor before ? ;)
Hope you don't make (too many) errors, getting people nagging on your back like that, it'd be a shame for living not?
And yes, there may be errors in this reply, since I'm not native English speaking and I'm human so I'm supposed to make errors...
--- I am known for the ones who want to find me on the net. Is that a privacy risk or a privilege? One might wonder..
s/I'll/It'll/
The proceeds should go to transporting poor families from places where they aren't highly skilled to those places where manual labor is needed.
They won't have Television to entice them into debt, but at least they'll now be able to afford the food or have enough space to do their own subsistence farming to survive.
Let's start with families on welfare while we're at it.
The idea that visas are allocated to help big companies recruit cheap workforce is ridiculous for many reasons, including the fact that government should help (as in maintain opportunities to succeed) individuals rather than corporations. Let companies work with local universities instead. On the flip side of the coin, a job is the least of the reasons most people (including me) come to US. Rather, it's a milder form of political asylum. Maybe you will not be killed for your beliefs, race or personality traits, but your government or countrymen are sure going to make your life miserable. Think of widows in India, second children in China or people who dislike killing other people (fight in Chechnya war) in Russia. If such individuals lose their jobs even for a month while on H-1, they get kicked out of the country where they discovered value of freedom, bought a house, have a girlfriend...
A partial solution would be simply to have a longer time to find another job. I guess a country can afford only so many unemployed people or new immigrants in general at a time. A better long term solution would be to create an international agency that helps people resettle in some country - not necessarily US - where they will not be killed or harassed. In any case, basing visa quote on what Microsoft says it needs seems ridiculous.
Add to this the fact that there's really no effective enforcement going on, this "limit filled in one day" just reeks of political fodder to push for more Visas.
Surprisingly, there are indeed some actual real numbers published on the number of H1-B admissions into the U.S., from the Department of Homeland Security. These numbers appear to confirm that there are a lot more H1-B's entering the country than the Visa limit would suggest.
The DHS document (The 2005 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics) is at: http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/year book/2005/OIS_2005_Yearbook.pdf
I'm quoting the following from a discussion on dice.com at: http://seeker.dice.com/olc/thread.jspa?threadID=49 2&tstart=15
"Temporary workers and Trainees:" Specialty Occupations(H-1B):
YEAR - H-1B visas Admitted
1996 - 144,458
1997 - 240,947
1998 - 302,421
1999 - 355,065
2001 - 384,191
2002 - 370,490
2003 - 360,498
2004 - 386,821
There are a number of other excellent quotes on the above thread on Dice. It's well worth reading.
The best way to predict the future is to create it. - Peter Drucker.
Pick the H1B candidates according to salary. The people with the highest salaries get H1Bs first. The market will ensure that H1B's go to the candidates most in demand. Spread the cap over every month, with a backlog. This way, companies know the minimum that has to be paid as salary to get a H1B employee.
Also IMO, a lot of this demand is drive by the Indian IT companies - TCS, Infy, Wipro, etc. They have HR teams who apply for as many of their employees as might be required to go onsite in the next year. And since a normal company can't usually afford to apply for, and hire, a person 5 months ahead of his possible entry into the US, the Indian IT companies are making hay.
There are also students who are on their OPT who can apply for a H1B and work on their OPT until they get their H1Bs. These two'd probably be the biggest sets of applicants.
This leaves a lot of companies in the US which might like to bring someone in on a H1 in an impossible situation.
I'm an Indian, in India, and not going for a H1 any time soon. But I've seen a lot of my friends having problems because of H1. And the visa situation and general atmosphere after 9/11 was partially what made me come back after my MS.
All bow to his Noodliness!! His Noodle Appendage has touched me!
batchelor's degrees? shouldn't this be bachelor's degree?
That's for an expert in writing nightly batch scripts for database updates and virus scans.
Table-ized A.I.
Is a "Visa Cap" that tin-foil hat for those of us paranoid of free trade? After the rotton 2001-2003 IT season, I think I own 3.
Table-ized A.I.
You are convincing our politicians that you just have to have all this cheap labor at your disposal and you will take your taxable activities elsewhere if they don't do as you demand, while, at the same time, donating generously to those politicians who spout this propaganda to their constituents who are wise to the idiocy in which you indulge.
OUTSOURCE.
Prove the lazy, greying, stupid, fat, US engineers (who just happened to invent all the critical technologies that everyone says they own now) are as worthless you say they are.
OUTSOURCE.
Please... put your businesses where you think the good engineers are.
Seastead this.
I herd it's prety difikult to get a batchelor's
or else!
Give us your rich, your lucky, your highly educated masses longing to be exploited...
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I have to say, that I'm not American, but I'd like to work in the US, but sorry, I don't have a "batchelors" (funny stuff :) , instead I have a phd.
IMHO, these numbers limiting the legal work visas/year are just ridiculous. For two main reasons. Countless numbers of illegal aliens flow into the US every year, yet their main concern is limiting the number of people who want to work legally and pay taxes. Then, no matter how low or high you put that limit, there will always be more requests than places. Solutions ? I don't really think we - or, more correctly, you - could find an easy one. One of them might be not to put a limit but try to judge every application and try to select, but this also wouldn't work since there are only so much people at USCIS whu can process visa applications. Besides, the whole thing just s*cks, since there are no guarantees you get a job you might fit into, since the best they can tell you is you'll get the job if the gods and uscis want it too.
I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I can think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.
Is just a money making scam.. That is all
http://www.rense.com/general79/wdx1.htm
This is and has been just a scam to reduce the wages of skilled labor. Otherwise there would be more of a requirement than just a bs degree.
I agree with the parent on a number of points. A CS degree is not the most important criteria in a number of SW/IT jobs, and secondly - we all have to do work that it not enjoyable to pay the bills.
My main degree is in engineering (not CS, or EE or any even related field) but I have been a programmer for 10 years. My chosen field is firmware, mostly my work involves assembler, electronics, C and some win32 support apps. In this time I have worked with and interviewed many CS graduates who have all been largely unskilled in this field - the ones we have had have not understood resources, interrupts, reentrency, real-time or many other important factors in firmware. Yet some have behaved as though the great steaming brown mounds of code they have pumped out should be worshipped just as much as the ground apon which they have most recently walked. EE graduates have been by far the most promising recruits, though I have worked along side former carpenters, plumbers, and even car mechanics and dustbin men.
Judge someone by the skillset they possess, not some (largely meaningless) paper qualifications. Above all enforce a strict, well thought out interview regime full of relevent questions to weed out the dross.
I personally loath some of the jobs I have to do - but I recognise that any job is not all 100% coding and I accept that any project life-cycle will require some more boring jobs. As a respectable programmer I just get on with it to the best of my ability.
Simply there are no jobs there or the salaries are much lower and not enough to satisfy the needs of a normal family.
If you get a job sweeping streets in Mexico you will not be exploited in any way, but try making a living out of US$ 100 a month or less, and you will understand the conondrum these people face.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Most of the people which are hired in the IT do not need a CS degree. maybe in academia and in some private big concern research... But that is it. "a well-trained CS major" maybe can demonstrate why P=NP is important and speaks hour long about AI and DNA like design, but if it can't understand the business it will be working in, it will be no better than the average non-cs major. There is a good reason why physics, mathematic and biology people were hired in the place I work over to the exception of 2 CS major : they have a better grasp at the language used (f77) could adapt better to the business rules, and grew better optimized code than the lonely 2 CS major. Sure you can argue to hell that the 2 CS majors were crap, but my experience is that NOT THE DEGREE make the man, but the ADAPTIBILITY to the job. And it seems all the CS major I know fail more on that part than the other mentionnend study categories.
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
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visit randi.org
If you compare it with what many European countries for instance has you practically do not have social safety net AT ALL. Stop worrying about something that you do not have.
Bullshit!! I'll pay more for my damn groceries. I'm not sure if others are prepared for it but I am. Bottom line --- they are here illegally and no amount of word or thought play can get around that fact.
I am a recent graduate on OPT (optional practical traning) who was waiting for h1 and now is part of this "h1 lottery". Wtf? We just like any other american, went to the same school (here), took the same course, excelled and graduated along with other americans. How is this fair to us, who took the same path as any of you and we are not asking for citizenship, just the right to put into use the value of an "american degree and education". I work as a RF engineer and there are no RF enginner in and around the place that i work now. My company had to wait around a year to find the right candiate. After all this its come down to a lottery? I know more of you are bashing h1s, but can you imagine the stress for others like me who are already working here and waiting for the "lottery" to take place? I guess we just have to wait, like any other "lottery" and hope the winds of luck blows our way. pathetic :(
I would mod the parent +1 Insightful, but I'm fresh out.
All too often Americans interested in protecting their own jobs and culture are immediately and without question branded racist xenophobes. Unfortunately, there has to be a degree of truth to that for many people -- but certainly not all, and probably not even most. Throughout the world people aren't as open to unchecked immigration as we in America are led to believe.
Where is a line drawn between believing in and loving ones own country (which could be called nationalism by certain, shrill, individuals), and opening borders and allowing a country's own culture to be slowly replaced with other cultures? Hear me now -- I was taught and believe that America is like a giant salad bowl, we have a richly diverse culture here. But taken to an extreme, people who were born here and live here and work here could see their own livelihoods ruined by say, H1-B visa abuse and outsourcing.
Why should a country not protect it's own people (and jobs), within reason?
Thanks for sharing this.
Section 1101 is definitions. 1101(a) sets out definitions for the entire chapter on immigration, while (b) and (c) give definitions for different subchapters. 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15) defines "immigrant" as "every alien except an alien who is within one of the following classes", then lists 22 classes of "nonimmigrant aliens". For example:
- Class A covers foreign ministers, ambassadors, and public officials.
- Class C covers people who are stopping over in the US on their way to another country or the UN.
- Class K(i) covers people who are engaged and entering the country to get married within 90 days.
Class H covers aliens coming to the US to work, and is probably tl;dr for most people, but I went ahead and read it anyway. H(ii) and H(iii) apply only if the person has "a residence in a foreign country which he has no intention of abandoning."*Class H(i) sets out three types of nonimmigrant aliens:
- H(i)(b): aliens coming to the US to work in "specialty occupations" or as a fashion model**
- H(i)(b1): aliens coming to the US under the free trade agreement with either Chile or Singapore
- H(i)(c): aliens coming to the US to be registered nurses.
Admission of nonimmigrants is covered in Section 1184. 1184(i)(1) defines "specialty occupations" as those that require "theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge, and attainment of a bachelor's or higher degree in the specific specialty (or its equivalent) as a minimum." In other words, the job doesn't have to be high-tech, but it does require a college degree and some smarts. In order to be allowed into the country to practice such an occupation, 1184(i)(2) requires a nonimmigrant alien to eitherThe numerical limit comes from 1184(g). According to 1184(g)(1) and (g)(2) there can be up to 65,000 H(i)(b) visas granted per year and 66,000 H(ii)(b) visas, not counting spouses and children. The H(i)(b) quota was as high as 195,000, from 2001 to 2003. 1184(g)(3) says that petitions are granted first-come, first-serve. With 150,000 H(i)(b) applications for 65,000 slots, it's reasonable that the USCIS would refuse further applications.
* H(ii)(a) covers seasonal agricultural workers. H(ii)(b) covers everyone else (except foreign doctors entering to practice medicine), provided that "unemployed persons capable of performing such service or labor cannot be found in this country". H(iii) covers aliens in the US to receive (non-medical) training, if they are not training for the purpose of getting a new job.
** Doctors coming over under H(i)(b) have to meet special requirements. See 8 U.S.C. 1182(j)(2).
This post expresses my opinion, not that of my employer. And yes, IAAL.
This is great news! No need to retrain or hire college grads! Just give us more cheap labor! Cheap labor enables us to continue to compensate our CXO officers at insanely high levels. No need to think farther that the next quarter. Cheap labor today means profit next quarter.
:) Anyway, this is my shot for today.
Makes you wonder, why couldn't we get some H1-B CIO's and CEO's
Tell that to the people of Detroit, MI (and many other local economies ruined by offshoring).
That's to get you accustomed to their slow health care system before you arrive.
They don't grade fathers, but if your daughter's a stripper, you fucked up. --Chris Rock
The goal here isn't to protect America's interests, it's to further erode the middle class. Profits, sir, profits.
Really, that's your best option. A guy I used to work with is on a Hetch Von Bee visa and thought he was going to get his Green Card years ago. I told him at the time he should just marry his American girlfriend so he could quit being a slave to my old boss, but he wouldn't listen.
Instead, he married some Indian woman and now they're both screwed. He could have been married and divorced three times by now and have his Green Card. But nooooo. No one listens to me.
They don't grade fathers, but if your daughter's a stripper, you fucked up. --Chris Rock
According to Business Week, there were "an estimated 700,000 holders of H1B and L1 visas in the U.S., and critics say the number may be closer to 1 million." (http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_3 4/b3846032.htm)
This was in 2003 alone, at the very worst part of the dot-com bust. So yes, the visa limit number is a pure deception of the total number working in this country. A more honest statement would be to portay the number as 390,000. But this absurdly low number would be too shocking for the American public.
And contrary to your attempt to gloss over it, it's not that simple. Here's a quote from Wikipedia: "The actual size of the H-1B program is difficult to gauge due to exemptions from the 85,000-person quota limit. 130,497 new H-1B visas were approved in FY 2004 and 116,927 in FY 2005." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-1B_visa).
The exemptions aren't nearly so clear cut as you portray them in your attempt to downplay the numbers. Read the article for some more of the exemptions. And that's not even counting the ones who overstay their Visa and remain here illegally, considering that this whole program is not policed effectively.
And again, contrary to your attempts to downplay this issue, the L1-B's are extremely relevant to this discussion. They provide yet another direct loophole to the H1-B program. It allows companies to bypass the H1-B program completely. Unless you're arguing that we should eliminate the L1-B program completely? Hmmm. Somehow I don't expect to hear you say that.
The best way to predict the future is to create it. - Peter Drucker.
I think it is amazing how the deadline for H1-B Visa applicants is so close to the time of year many college students graduate. Hmmmm . . . Let me see, we want people in the U.S. to pursue a degree in technology related fields, yet we don't have job opportunities when they graduate.
Thanks a lot, Congress. I hope your corporate masters paid you well, because they sure as heck aren't paying us.
"foriegn"? Rule #1 when making fun of someone else's spelling and/or grammar: always double-check your own post.
I think part of his point is that you don't own your property, you own title to use it in a certain manner.
Thinking of property tax as a rental fee to the county is a bit of a twist, but do take into consideration that in some counties (like mine) it is quite substantial.
Run and catch, run and catch, the lamb is caught in the blackberry patch.
Who is blocking industry? I am surprised no one has successfully snuck in a "midnight admendent" (too late to delete) for unlimited visas. I am guess its a some pro-union dems looking out for american workers. When you see abuses like Circuit City and Enron, I am surprised its not worse than it is for developers.
I have a solution to all of our immigration problems:
Completely co-opt government in the favor of corporations' short-term profits. Once the USA's economy collapses and we become a third-world country, then the line of people waiting to get in will get a lot shorter.
Actually just the other night on the news (here in Scotland) they were talking about racially motivated crime being on the rise. Not violence, per se, just property crime. But overall, though, it's a pretty nice place.
;)
Mobs of drunken Scots pose little threat to strangers, although they're quite commonly encountered. They seem to primarily just beat each other up, presumably realizing that other members of their own little drunken mob are unlikely to go to the police, while strangers would probably do so.
Mobs of sober Scots pose little threat to strangers as well, primarily because you can't find enough sober Scots at once to form a mob.
Village idiot in some extremely smart villages.
The ones that matter to geeks are the L-1 and L-2 visas for professors and grad students from overseas - H1-B is just an artificial way to avoid talking about the need for a real immigration reform where people with skills - like fluency in English, ability to be understood in English, knowledge of American non-metric measurements, and skills our country can use - would lead to people becoming citizens.
The fourth type are NAFTA and CAFTA visas for Mexican/Canadian and Canadian workers here, who have a separate category.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
There is one part of the H1B program i have not seen mentioned which I think explains why the industry likes them so much. H1B workers are pretty tightly linked to their job and won't quit, because they would jeopardize their visa, and later their Green Card application process. I have seen a lot of H1Bs working for years maintaining crappy legacy code while they were waiting for their visa number. Americans on that team would ask to be transfered to another project or quit.
The other hidden face of that program is that a lot of H1B workers are employed by staffing companies who are taking advantage of them ruthlessly.
Dev elpizw tipota, dev phoboumai tipota eimai lephteros http://euclidian.org
I agree. At least they have a healthcare system that won't bankrupt or penalize you if you get sick.
I may not be a smart man, but I know what an inode is.
It doesn't seem that easy to me to emigrate to Scotland (if you're not an EU citizen).
_ id=589
k /en/homepage/schemes_and_programmes/hsmp.html
I'm thinking of emigrating (not because I'm unemployed, there's actually 100% occupation in IT in my country, but because of the low low wages), and after reading your post I made some quick searches.
For someone like me, with a bachelor's degree, I'd have to apply to the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme.
I went to the HSMP website, and this is what it said (despite my speaking fluent English and having a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, being young, healthy and single, all requirements which would qualify me for residence in Canada or Australia, which are the countries I'm looking into):
HSMP Points Calculator
We regret to inform you that at this time, you either do not meet the current pass mark of 75 points or do not meet one of the other requirements for entry to the UK under the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme. You would therefore not have a good chance of being successful in your application based on your skills, qualifications and age.
20 points for your age 30 points for your qualification 0 points for UK Qualification or UK Work Experience 0 points for earning power 50 total points (75 needed to qualify)
You are unable to show that you will have sufficient funds in the UK to pay your living expenses there - not eligible
http://www.talentscotland.com/view_item.aspx?item
http://www.workingintheuk.gov.uk/working_in_the_u
There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.
While you guys are focusing on the legitimacy of H1b, impact on US economy, good or bad etc, let's look really into those numbers and get some real meaning under the whole H1b-cap stuff. Let's say there is a company, namely IT consulting company, hiring the people in their home country who want to pay for their H1b visas. The company trains the people and looks for IT projects for them(or worse, you are on your own to find projects). You have to pay $5000-10,000 up front and the company "modifies" your resume so that everyone is pretty much guranteed for a job. Once you get started, the company keeps up to 6 months of your paycheck and after that, you are free to go, just transfer your H1b to another company. "In 2006, a review of new information from the federal government suggests that the companies benefiting most from the temporary worker program aren't U.S. companies at all. Rather, they appear to be Indian outsourcing firms, which often hire workers from India to train in the U.S. before returning home to work. Data for the fiscal year 2006, which ended last September, show that 7 of the top 10 applicants for H-1B visas are Indian companies. Giants Infosys Technologies (INFY) and Wipro (WIT) took the top two spots, with 22, 600 and 19,400 applications, respectively. The company with the third most applications is Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH), which is based in Teaneck, N.J., but has most of its operations in India. All three companies provide services to U.S. companies from India, including technology support and back-office processing."-----businessweek Hope this will reveal some insights about where the hell the 150,000 applications come from. One note: those people are bearly qualified with little knowledge on IT but trained to do repetitive coding work.
The people who are against allowing foreign workers and immigrants into the United States claim they are not racists or xenophobes. They claim that by increasing the labor pool for a certain job, that it lowers the wage for that job - And they are just trying to "protect American workers". They feel that these workers are "stealing jobs" from Americans.
Fine. In that case, lets ban childbirth! Every year, millions of babies are born in the United States, and grow up to compete with the existing labor force! Our population is increasing and increasing and increasing! That of course means there are millions of more people competing for the same jobs!
Now, I know what you are saying... people get old, they retire, they die. Of course. I am not saying that a few selected people won't be allowed to have children - Perhaps there could be some sort of national childbirth lottery. But if we don't do something about all those job-stealing babies being born, we aren't going to have a country left!
Yes, I agree, some may say that we are sacrificing our tradition of freedom by taking away people's right to procreate. Sure, but we are also sacrificing our tradition of being a country of immigrants by restricting immigration (ever heard of "give me your tired, give me your poor"? Probably not. Lets just say that unless your skin is red, you are the product of immigration). The freedom-loving person would want to be free to hire whoever they want, not to be told who they have to hire. This sacrifice in freedom is nessicary to protect our economy!
Remember the nightmare, back before the U.S. restricted immigration!?!?!
We had the scurge of people like Einstien, and John von Neumann! We had the evil of people like Enrico Fermi, and Nicoli Tesla, and Alexander Graham Bell, stealing up all those jobs that should have gone to hard working Americans! And it is about time we kick that evil job-stealing bastard Linus Torvalds from this great U.S. of A. to whatever Scandinavian hell-hole he is from!!!
Think how much more advanced and successful the U.S. economy would be if it wasn't for these people ruining everything!
From what I have seen: PHBs love to chase the latest managerial fad.
I know of techies that are seriously under-employed: BSEEs working one of those jobs where you handle tickets, etc. But, instead of hiring US citizens, the PHBs just *know* that H1Bs are the bargin of the century.
But, I really wonder, if you were to add it up: all the overhead involved, all the demorallizing, all the bad-will. I have to wonder if the PHBs are getting the bargins that they think they are getting.
Well, this is bad news for me. I am about to get my PhD from a top-ranking U.S. university (in computer science). Yes, I am a foreigner. I worked hard for 6 years to earn the PhD, and published several research papers in top journals. I am one of the top experts world-wide in my field. As far as H1B is concerned, I could be getting my Masters Degree from the worst university in this country, with low grades, no research papers... and it wouldn't make any difference whatsoever. I like USA: I came here to follow my dream. I want to contribute to this society. And now you are telling me I should do the H1B lottery if I want to work for an American company. And that I am taking a job away from a skilled American... If you are not going to let people like me stay and live in this country, you are going to lose competitive edge - and I will lose a great work environment and friends I made while living here. Please establish a system that favors highly skilled candidates with advanced degrees.
the other 85,000 will have to sneak across the Mexican border
If we were to allow in unlimited number of temporary visas for any person who was employed as a Corporate Executive, and then inform them that the temporary visa was transferable to a permanent one, only if they succeeded in keeping jobs in America, along with keeping the corporation competitive in the global market, it would substantially decrease outsourcing in the USA. Another benefit from this would be a significant downward pressure on Corporate executive compensation packages.
Rush Limbaugh is a perfect real world example of an oxycontinmoron
There is a special class of visa for skilled Canadians who want to work in the U.S. but who don't want to (or can't e.g. no degree) go through the hassle of getting an H1-B.
The TN-1 is a one-year renewable visa with much laxer requirements. I have this to qualify for working at client sites in the States, although that rarely happens as all my development is done remotely.
If you don't want to repeat the past, stop living in it.
No, it's because education is a form of capital. A bachelor's degree is the same as bringing 40000USD with you (amount based on: four years in undergrad x 10000 USD per year in a non-US university).
For the people that bring money with them there are other ways to get a visa.
In more normal times United States encouraged immigration because the immigrants brought in, on average, more capital than what money they sent back home.
I haven't seen any posts mention the fundamental moral issue: Government power ought not be used to prevent any individual from moving freely in pursuit of whatever peaceful purposes they choose.
As applied to immigration, I am fully sympathetic to the idea that such individuals should face the burden of proof that their intentions are peaceful, and that unlawful behavior in their country of origin (so long as that country has a legitimate rule of law) would be a prima facie case for rejecting their application. And, based on the realities of the modern world, there would also be strong grounds for rejecting the application of individuals from areas that are known to harbor sworn enemies of the U.S. and of individual rights in general.
I would venture that these criteria would eliminate only a tiny fraction of the H1B applicants. I would also submit that, were the process framed this way, enforcement would be much easier. Honest people would be extremely forthcoming in their willingness to prove their suitability to be allowed in, if they knew that only truly evil behavior and intentions were grounds for rejection. Immigration officials could focus their energies on ferretting out actual bad guys instead of trying vainly to optimize a decision involving endless incalculable political and economic variables. And again, the burden of proof would be on the applicant.
Otherwise, however, preventing the free movement of individuals is a violation of their human rights, and should not be the policy of a free country. Those opposed to this position should answer the question: on what basis should the power of force be used to prevent someone from peaceably pursuing their own happiness? Do you have some kind of "right" to a particular job at a particular salary which nullifies someone else's (actual) right to simply try for a better life? If so, then you must be saying that this "right" of yours derives simply from the accident of you having been born in the U.S. Think about the illogic of that position.
That is in addition to the practical benefits of immigration to all Americans, mentioned by other posts.
If humans are mostly water, and beer is mostly water, then humans must be mostly beer.