There was a BBC Horizon documentary on this nuclear fusion sonoluminescence phenomenon that casts strong doubt on the validity of previous work conducted by this researcher. The acid test for the occurence of fusion is the release of a neutron at the exact instant that the flash of light from sonoluminescence occurs. The Horizon team used a detector that can record the neutron releases at the required instant in time. After recreating Taleyarkhan's experiment according to his published journal papers, results were disappointing. None of the neutrons that were detected occurred at the same instant of any of the sonoluminescence flashes. The extra neutrons were explained away as originating from the emitter used to generate bubbles, or from external sources. No doubt rivals will challenge the statistically significant tritium claim. Tritium does occur naturally in significant quantities in any mass of heavy water (deuterium oxide).
In order to estimate the odds of obtaining permanent residency via
the F-1 : OPT : H-1B : EAD/485 : GC route, this
report on the H-1B population is highly recommended reading. One
conclusion is that less than 25,000 H-1B holders will adjust to GC in
any given year assuming there are no backlogs.
In practice far fewer will get GC's due to backlogged Labor
Certification and Adjustment of Status (485 processing) queues. Recall
that over 1999-2003, between 95,000 and 115,000 H-1B's will be issued
annually. (In 1999 the INS accidentally issued 20,000 more H-1B visas
than the quota allowed.) There is a Senate bill to increase this to
195,000 and it has bipartisan support.
Employment based GC's are capped at 140,000 annually. Due to
backlogs, only about half are actually used. Of this number, many will
go to H-4 visa holders (wife and children of the H-1B worker). There
are also O-1 and P visa categories that compete for these same visas
-- how else do you attract foreign actors, musicians and athletes to
work in the US? H-1B's will get whatever is left over.
Democrats strongly support the restoration of clause 245i of the
Immigration and Naturalization Act(1990). This rule, which expired in
1996, allows undocumented aliens to apply for permanent residency
provided they pay a fee of US$1000. In the month before 245i expired,
thousands of aliens entered the Labor Certification queue (the first
stage of the Green Card process) seriously backlogging the INS. Expect the H-1B piece of the pie to shrink further in the immediate future.
It explains why the program is so easy to abuse by unscrupulous companies. There are also some interesting statistics: In 1998 only 13,000 H-1B's were adjusted to Green Card status, yet 65,000 H-1B visas were issued that year.
Importing the best and brightest is probably the only way for
the US to maintain dominance in intellectual business.
I've considered immigrating to the US through employer sponsorship
and have studied the US immigration process for well over two years
now. The best and brightest people will proabably do the same and draw
similar conclusions to mine before considering coming to the US --
that the immigration system is all one big lottery.
Look at one particularly famous hi-tech immigrant. A Mr. Linus
Torvalds, whose H1-B is sponsored by Transmeta. Fortunately for him,
his Green Card application is going through a faster route. He's
qualified for EB-1 (Employment Based category one) which allows him to
forego the lengthy Labor Certification process which would've added
at least two years wait. And yet still, Linus
complains. The IEEE-USA and
Immigration Reform
Coalition have even gotten him to sign their
letter in support of green cards for new immigrant labor.
What about those H1-B holders whose GC applications don't qualify
for EB-1. The EB-2 for jobs requiring a Masters, or the heavily over
subscribed EB-3 for any job needing only a bachelors? Waiting times
for: Labor Certification + Priority date to become current + i485
processing + Employment Approval Document(EAD) + final ajustment of
status to GC holder = in excess of 5 years. Assuming an H1-B
is renewed it can only allow a person to work for 6 years in the US.
Technically, once an H1-B holder has reached the EAD stage they
can remain in the US indefinitely on their current visa working for
the sponsoring employer. The adjustment of status queue itself (the
one Linus
is currently stuck in) has been bottlenecked for well over a year.
Indefinite indentured labor anyone?
And in the space of just 1 year look what has happened to the dot
coms. Layoffs, pink slips, bankruptcy. Even well established companies
like Shockwave, Qwest and Novell are laying off hi-tech people. Of
course, with the labor market so tight, the US citizens and residents
will get snapped up by other more successful companies within a
weeks. But what of the H1-B holder who now has ten days to find
another sponsor or be deported? Even if one is so lucky as to find a
new sponsor for the H1-B, the 6 year time limit cannot be
reset. 2 years spent at a dot.bomb means only 4 years left at the
new company. The GC application must start from scratch, and there
simply will not be enough time for it to complete processing.
And even if all the bottlenecks were to magically disappear by
noon today, a
recent IEEE-USA study suggests that the quota of H1-B's (65,000,
or 200,000 if the cap is raised) entering every year would render the
Green card process one big lottery for many. Only a tiny fraction of
H1-B holders get adjusted to GC in any given year. This number was no more than 25,000 in 1998 due to all the backlogs.
So, No thank you. I don't think I'll be working in the U.S.
Maybe, I'll try Canada. From what
I hear, a hi-tech professional can get residency within 18 months.
Many former H1-B holders from India are migrating northwards taking
valuable US hi-tech experience with them.
Well, since there really is no hi-tech shortage in the US, this
Computing Science Ph.D. who can program in C/C++, Perl, Java, Python,
Tcl/Tk, is familiar with many Internet protocols, OpenGL programming,
and gives training courses in Linux/UNIX, will probably not be missed.
Besides, you can stay in the country for short period of time after losing the visa (3 mos?),
It's actually 10 days, which is way less time needed to transfer an H1-B. I hope you didn't oversee your last visa. That would make you deportable the next time you enter the US.
Total time for being in the US on an H1-B (whether or not it has been transferred) is 6 years. After that you must spend one year outside of the US before applying again. Precisely why ppl want the get Green Cards. But changing employers midway on an H1-B guarantees that you will not have time for GC processing to complete with your new sponsor.
Slashdot Mirror
There was a BBC Horizon documentary on this nuclear fusion sonoluminescence phenomenon that casts strong doubt on the validity of previous work conducted by this researcher. The acid test for the occurence of fusion is the release of a neutron at the exact instant that the flash of light from sonoluminescence occurs. The Horizon team used a detector that can record the neutron releases at the required instant in time. After recreating Taleyarkhan's experiment according to his published journal papers, results were disappointing. None of the neutrons that were detected occurred at the same instant of any of the sonoluminescence flashes. The extra neutrons were explained away as originating from the emitter used to generate bubbles, or from external sources. No doubt rivals will challenge the statistically significant tritium claim. Tritium does occur naturally in significant quantities in any mass of heavy water (deuterium oxide).
In order to estimate the odds of obtaining permanent residency via the F-1 : OPT : H-1B : EAD/485 : GC route, this report on the H-1B population is highly recommended reading. One conclusion is that less than 25,000 H-1B holders will adjust to GC in any given year assuming there are no backlogs.
In practice far fewer will get GC's due to backlogged Labor Certification and Adjustment of Status (485 processing) queues. Recall that over 1999-2003, between 95,000 and 115,000 H-1B's will be issued annually. (In 1999 the INS accidentally issued 20,000 more H-1B visas than the quota allowed.) There is a Senate bill to increase this to 195,000 and it has bipartisan support.
Employment based GC's are capped at 140,000 annually. Due to backlogs, only about half are actually used. Of this number, many will go to H-4 visa holders (wife and children of the H-1B worker). There are also O-1 and P visa categories that compete for these same visas -- how else do you attract foreign actors, musicians and athletes to work in the US? H-1B's will get whatever is left over.
Democrats strongly support the restoration of clause 245i of the Immigration and Naturalization Act(1990). This rule, which expired in 1996, allows undocumented aliens to apply for permanent residency provided they pay a fee of US$1000. In the month before 245i expired, thousands of aliens entered the Labor Certification queue (the first stage of the Green Card process) seriously backlogging the INS. Expect the H-1B piece of the pie to shrink further in the immediate future.
It explains why the program is so easy to abuse by unscrupulous companies. There are also some interesting statistics: In 1998 only 13,000 H-1B's were adjusted to Green Card status, yet 65,000 H-1B visas were issued that year.
The quota is likely to rise to 195,000 next year.
One year?! I find that hard to believe, given that Adjustment of Status backlogs are 2 to 3 years alone.
Linus Torvalds has been waiting for almost three years already, and he's in Employment Based Category One -- they skip the Labor Certification stage.
This is incorrect. You keep the same H-1B visa for the new job but it has to be transferred. This does not count against the H-1B quota
I am reminded of another /. comment regarding this H1B mess:
"When a German migrates to the US on an H1B, the average IQ of both countries increases!"
Importing the best and brightest is probably the only way for the US to maintain dominance in intellectual business.
I've considered immigrating to the US through employer sponsorship and have studied the US immigration process for well over two years now. The best and brightest people will proabably do the same and draw similar conclusions to mine before considering coming to the US -- that the immigration system is all one big lottery.
Look at one particularly famous hi-tech immigrant. A Mr. Linus Torvalds, whose H1-B is sponsored by Transmeta. Fortunately for him, his Green Card application is going through a faster route. He's qualified for EB-1 (Employment Based category one) which allows him to forego the lengthy Labor Certification process which would've added at least two years wait. And yet still, Linus complains. The IEEE-USA and Immigration Reform Coalition have even gotten him to sign their letter in support of green cards for new immigrant labor.
What about those H1-B holders whose GC applications don't qualify for EB-1. The EB-2 for jobs requiring a Masters, or the heavily over subscribed EB-3 for any job needing only a bachelors? Waiting times for: Labor Certification + Priority date to become current + i485 processing + Employment Approval Document(EAD) + final ajustment of status to GC holder = in excess of 5 years. Assuming an H1-B is renewed it can only allow a person to work for 6 years in the US.
Technically, once an H1-B holder has reached the EAD stage they can remain in the US indefinitely on their current visa working for the sponsoring employer. The adjustment of status queue itself (the one Linus is currently stuck in) has been bottlenecked for well over a year. Indefinite indentured labor anyone?
And in the space of just 1 year look what has happened to the dot coms. Layoffs, pink slips, bankruptcy. Even well established companies like Shockwave, Qwest and Novell are laying off hi-tech people. Of course, with the labor market so tight, the US citizens and residents will get snapped up by other more successful companies within a weeks. But what of the H1-B holder who now has ten days to find another sponsor or be deported? Even if one is so lucky as to find a new sponsor for the H1-B, the 6 year time limit cannot be reset. 2 years spent at a dot.bomb means only 4 years left at the new company. The GC application must start from scratch, and there simply will not be enough time for it to complete processing.
And even if all the bottlenecks were to magically disappear by noon today, a recent IEEE-USA study suggests that the quota of H1-B's (65,000, or 200,000 if the cap is raised) entering every year would render the Green card process one big lottery for many. Only a tiny fraction of H1-B holders get adjusted to GC in any given year. This number was no more than 25,000 in 1998 due to all the backlogs.
So, No thank you. I don't think I'll be working in the U.S. Maybe, I'll try Canada. From what I hear, a hi-tech professional can get residency within 18 months. Many former H1-B holders from India are migrating northwards taking valuable US hi-tech experience with them.
Well, since there really is no hi-tech shortage in the US, this Computing Science Ph.D. who can program in C/C++, Perl, Java, Python, Tcl/Tk, is familiar with many Internet protocols, OpenGL programming, and gives training courses in Linux/UNIX, will probably not be missed.
Bye
Besides, you can stay in the country for short period of time after losing the visa (3 mos?),
It's actually 10 days, which is way less time needed to transfer an H1-B. I hope you didn't oversee your last visa. That would make you deportable the next time you enter the US.
Total time for being in the US on an H1-B (whether or not it has been transferred) is 6 years. After that you must spend one year outside of the US before applying again. Precisely why ppl want the get Green Cards. But changing employers midway on an H1-B guarantees that you will not have time for GC processing to complete with your new sponsor.