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Computer Programmers May No Longer Be Eligible For H-1B Visas [Update] (axios.com)
Two anonymous readers share a report: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services quietly over the weekend released new guidance that computer programmers are no longer presumed to be eligible for H-1B visas. This aligns with the administration's focus on reserving the temporary visas for very high-skilled (and higher-paid) professionals while encouraging low- and mid-level jobs to go to American workers instead. The new guidance affects applications for the lottery for 2018 fiscal year that opened Monday. Companies applying for H-1B visas for computer programming positions will have to submit additional evidence showing that the jobs are complex or specialized and require professional degrees. From a Bloomberg report, which has confirmation: The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services department issued a memorandum that makes it harder for companies to bring foreign technology workers to the U.S. using the H-1B visa process. The new guidelines, issued late Friday, require additional information for computer programmers applying for the work visa to prove the jobs are complicated and require more advanced knowledge and experience. The new policy is effective immediately, so it will change how companies apply for the visas in an annual lottery process that begins Monday. Indian outsourcing firms, which have faced the most amount of criticism, stand to lose the most. The changes don't explicitly prohibit any applications for a specific type of job. Instead, they bring more scrutiny to those for computer programmers doing the simplest jobs.
After reading the recommendations, computer programmers as a profession are not being limited. Programmers who only have an associates degree will be limited. I'm not sure how many H1-B holders only have associates degrees, but I haven't met any.
-- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
USCIS has already considered Computer Programmer positions more skeptically. to qualify for an H-1B, the position has to require at minimum a bachelor's degree in a specialty field, or the equivalent. some Programmer positions are complex and require this, some do not.
the weird thing is, USCIS should already know this: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/comput...
seems like USCIS officers are about as well trained as TSA officers
Not sure "flooded" is accurate. That's more the case on the junior/entry level and low complexity positions, but there is still plenty of demand for developers with a few years of experience or whose skills go beyond web development.
While I'm not a Trump fan, our immigration laws regarding H1-B visa applications have been ignored by the Obama administration in the interests of big business (especially Google and Disney). We are supposed to be protecting American jobs and we have plenty of qualified IT professional (some unemployed). Companies were illegally hiring foreign (Indian in particular) professional to replace IT workers at a reduced salary. It's not to say that foreign IT workers are bad, but citizens come first. The procedures are clear: Show you are unable to find someone in the USA (you are supposed to show job postings and let a reasonable amount of time and show lack of qualifications of the applications) before you apply for a foreign worker visa.
"Imagination is more important than knowledge" - Einstein
Re:And you don't think they will make up *more* stuff
FTFY. If you've ever reviewed some of those H1B resumes, or interviewed the candidates, you know they've already been making stuff up for quite a while.
007: "Who are you?"
Pussy: "My name is Pussy Galore."
007: "I must be dreaming..."
You could always apply for a job in India. Oh wait, no you can't. They would never hire you because they hire Indians first. Unlike the rest of the world governments that look after the interests of their own citizens first, it is considered racist in the USA to hire black and white citizens before you hire foreigners.
It is one thing to help out other countries and peoples, but it is another thing entirely to feed the neighbors kids before you feed your own. This is what we do in the name of political correctness.
Except if you live in NYC. Then you are buying a two bedroom condo for $1,000,000 plus (in a nice, safe area - not a posh, ritzy area) and are definitely not parking your money in banks and stocks (which by the way is the capital that allows a bank to lend the $50,000/yr person the money to buy his house).
Still. I agree we need more $50,000/yr jobs as well as more $250,000 / yr jobs.
If you're scared of your govt then you need to further restrict its powers
Vote 3rd Party in 2016 and beyond
TCS/Wipro/Infosys/Cognizant do game the lottery but the main way they game it is by using up so many slots that others cant. They hardly use a fraction of the H1s they do get. In your scenario they can still game it by applying for a large number of H1s with LCAs with high salaries but never sending those folks . When there is a resultant shortage of workers in the US the entire project will be sent offshore and the offshoring firms will be happy.
You want to fight against offshoring make H1b unlimited. Any company who needs a programmer should be able to file and get a visa within a month. Ifcompanies can get people directly no need to go to consulting firms who have large offshore benches. If you use an offshoring firm then eventually all work will get offshored.
**Life is too short to be serious**
If you haven't taken an internship in software engineering, then I really can't justify hiring you. Sorry
If you're an intern, and have taken some programming courses, and have plans or are in the process of taking some specialized courses, then we absolutely do bring in *paid* interns that way. In my group's case, we look for system software related courses. Operating systems, or embedded, or even digital logic design. We're pretty flexible.
We bring in almost as many Canadian interns (from Canadian schools) as American interns. It's been slim pickings for American interns. Most of our interns from US universities are here on a student visa.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
Neither do foreigners....
Wrong. Fake news.
As outlined in Executive Order 12968, Access to Classified Information, eligibility for access to classified information may only be granted to employees who are United States citizens. However, an exception is allowed in specific situations wherein there are compelling reasons for limited access to be granted to an immigrant alien or foreign national employee who possess a special expertise that is needed for specific programs, projects, contracts, licenses, certificates, or grants.
And isn't that special expertise precisely why people are eligible for an H1-B?
I'm not a complete idiot... Some parts are missing.