H-1B Employer Data Hub(uscis.gov) |
H-1B Employer Data Hub(uscis.gov) |
Immigration bureaucracy has slowed to a crawl, processes that used to take 6 weeks are now taking 6 months. It's unfortunate, since the news only talks about the administration's policies on undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers, not how the administration is dragging their feet on _all_ immigration processes.
It's just not worth it to sponsor an H-1B, especially if you're a medium/small sized company. Costs too much time and money.
Of the top 20 employers, the average approval rate was 76%. Most of the employers are outsourcing subcontractors or accounting firms. But there were five employers in the top 20 with 90%+ approval rates: Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple.
I can't think of a single case where there would be an "obvious" replacement for that person -- not just in the US, but anywhere in the world. In fact, most of those H1Bs I've worked with eventually end up switching to the O1 anyways (for reference, very few SWEs -- even at FAANGs -- would quality for the O1).
These companies sponsor H1B visas because some of the people they wish to hire happen to not able to work in the US without a visa. They'll hire anyone who passes the interview.
Maybe it's just that they want to recruit good people and some good people just happen to live outside the US?
There is a total of 85,000 new H-1B visa numbers released each US Fiscal Year, with the FY2020 beginning as of October 1, 2019.
Out of 85,000 new H-1B visa numbers, 20,000 are set aside for individuals that graduated with a Masters or equivalent (or higher) degree here in the U.S., provided the university wasn’t a for-profit entity.
There is high demand for new numbers and USCIS typically receives 190K+ cases the first week of the season (ie: April 1, 2019). Thus, each year USCIS conducts a lottery to decide which of the cases will be processed .
The H-1B Cap lottery first step is to decide which cases will be selected for the regular 65,000 numbers - then the lottery for the 20,000 US Advanced Degree H-1B cap being conducted after.
There is a place for an H1B program. The effectively indentured servitude program as it exists today has no place in America.
The companies are exploiting loopholes in a system to maximize profits. It is probably one of the softer evil things that companies do.
If anything it is the US govts fault that their lack of regulation has let these bad actors free. You can't ezpect profit seeking companies to not act in their interests. But you should expect your govt. to reign them in when they go out of line.
I hesitate to rely on my anecdotal experience but my opinion is that unless they are really high level programmers or whatnot they are butts in seats.
Upon review, it's apparent that the 'visa for people with skills that the American market doesn't have' argument doesn't fly - the requirements only establish that the visa holder be competitive with Americans. You might be thinking of the 'extraordinary ability' category of visas, which are O-series (instead of the H-series of H-1Bs).
I'm also unclear on your criticism of consultancies - there's no criteria for the job to be STEM in nature, and I don't think it's an extraordinary view to hold that other fields may be technical/specialized. Fundamentally, very very few employees are irreplaceable (for good reason) by someone with sufficient motivation/training.
In defense of H-1 visa holders (especially fresh grads), I'd argue that if you outcompete locals (on even salary conditions) through fairly rigorous recruitment processes, overcoming the lack of local network and cultural/language barriers and survive the lottery cull, then the position has been earned. [1].
Finally, your argument about 'having the time to gauge applications' is absurd. Either the process was working before, or it wasn't. If the program was compliant prior, then extending processing times is fundamentally a violation of due process, and effectively re-interpreting existing law.
[0] https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/temporary-worker... [1] Fair disclosure, this was my path
The challenge with finding out whether the process was working before is inherently difficult is what I think. Whom is it working for? And for whom it isn't? Again I could be wrong
How does it apply to tech?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/andyjsemotiuk/2019/01/02/recent...
The slowdown has nothing to do with H-1B abuses or exploitation. Nor is it because the administration "isn't tech savvy."
It's because the current administration was elected with a mandate from their base to stem immigration in all forms. They do not want more immigrants in this country, and are doing everything they can to prevent more people from coming here, staying here, or being allowed to stay here.
Right now, USCIS is not forcing established American companies (FAANG, Microsoft, etc) to prove "specialty occupation". There is a reason for it: these big companies can take USCIS to federal courts, thereby curtailing the discretion of USCIS. So, USCIS is going after feeder companies: staffing companies (body shops); outsourcing comnpanies (WITCH and MNC consultancies like Capgemini, Deloitte).
One can turn any job into a specialty occupation with a four-page description of buzz words.
how does that square with
>I am a front-end developer on an H1 visa.
So let me get this straight, other immigrant's jobs can be easily done by locals with minimal training, hence it is a scam. BUT your 'front-end skills' are so unique that no other American can do it?
His _position_ may require more than _minimal_ training. We don't know as we haven't seen the application.
Year...Employers...Approvals
2019........22K..........76K
2018........55K.........334K
2017........49K.........373KWhich schools did they graduate from? My 9 friends went to do MS in US and all of them got jobs in the valley with H1-B sponsorship. Their success is tempting me also to try the masters. Although fun of studying in a US school and CS again is also very tempting.
They are slow walking all immigrants, focusing the brunt of their enforcement activity on black and brown folks, up to and including turning people away from self-deportation processes if they present as white.
It is a coordinated effort to delay demographic shifts.
The conversation is not about about benefits and services to non-citizens, but about whether enforcement is being targeted at specific immigrant populations based on white supremacist ideologies. It is about the false, widely circulated talking-point that this administration simply seeks to push people toward legal pathways.
>If the guest worker program wasn't being horribly abused it would be worthwhile.
This is a claim that requires justification. Any tiered labor system that does not guarantee a level legal playing field for all workers is abusable.
Wanting to avoid a demographic shift is an invalid reason to constraint immigration in my eyes, I find arguments like that to be heavily based in strongly bigoted opinions.
Even among countries that are often assumed to have broadly similar standards of living by most people (UK is example I am most familiar with), those countries often pay their engineers substantially less. Many of my British colleagues earn very _substantially_ less doing the same job for the same company in the UK as an equivalent US worker.
Of course money isn’t everything, but it’s not like quality of life in California is completely terrible either for a lot of people...
Also when we talk about long waits for Green Cards, we really mean for the large body of Indian technology workers, broadly speaking. For other nationalities the wait is typically a year or less (for those unaware there are effectively country based quotas for green cards). The gap in earning potential is even larger still in the Indian example vs my earlier UK one, so again I’m not surprised few actually move back.
Finally many of these visa workers have had to battle their way to a job. Unlike a US citizen, they’ve had to brave a complex, often uncertain immigration process, finding a job in a foreign country in which they may have no experience, no network etc. If you put in all that effort, it’s maybe not surprising you want to hang around to get the eventual prize.
Others have fallen prey to the sunk-cost fallacy ("I've been waiting for 10+ years; it'll feel like I waste if I give up now").
And still others value the ability to work in the US over other countries (though I would judge that value to have decreased in the past couple years).
Some will just still stop at nothing to eventually be able to hold a US passport, especially if they come from a country where their own passport is much less useful internationally.
And I imagine some have also settled down and had kids in the time they've been here, waiting, and don't want to uproot their family.
This is only for certain countries, by the way.
> Why don't the applicants give up and go back to their home countries ?
Have you got any experience in moving to another country? Do you have family?
So you spend years away from your country, getting promoted at work, kid at an american school (speaking English every day, with his american friends), wife going to an university or working(after enduring all the initial difficulties acclimating), for you to suddenly say: "meh, let's throw everything away and go back". Try that and let us know how that goes. Maybe if you are young and single.
Now, if you ask me, should people still try to come, given the current political climate? I am not sure. It's a wonderful country and the allure of the Bay Area is too great, if you are in IT. But the immigration system makes absolutely zero sense and is very demeaning. You need a lot of mental fortitude to endure it – even more so if you are from one of the countries with queues. Make sure you and your family can deal with the uncertainty, for years.
But in the end giving up that valley $$$ is not easy for everyone.
I was in US for 6.5 years working for an Indian company. My employer filed for my green card and it got denied in the first step (see 1 below). Employer appealed and it got approved after 3-4 months. Completed 2nd stage without issues and filed for visa extension. Got RFE from USCIS (see 2 below). Instead of 15 days, it got delayed for another 3.5 months. I couldn't renew my driving license since my previous visa expired by now (see 3 below) and had to rely on Uber/Lyft for 3 months. Finally got my visa approved for 3 more years.
I had enough of this process by now. Even before the green card application denial, I had a tough time living in US (see 4 below). H1B people (who did everything by the book) were always scared to go back to India ever since Trump came to power. There were stories of people going to India for vacation and then can't come back, being grilled at port of entry in US airports for 1 hour before they let you in etc. Thankfully, I never experienced any of that expect for the 'random' checks from TSA which always used to happen to me.
I stayed in US for 1 more month after my visa extension got approved. I gave a 2 weeks notice to my employer, ended up working for another 1-2 weeks while my customer tried in vain for options to allow me work from India, packed up everything and came back. The pain stopped just like that. I am yet to experience it even though life in India is harder than in US and I haven't even started looking for a job yet.
Notes:
1. Green card usually has 3 steps I believe, first 2 gets completed in 1 year or so, 3rd stage gets completed after 10-20 years for Indians. If some reports are to be believed, it takes 150 years for eb2 and 50 years for eb3 Indians. Once we complete 6 years on h1b, we have to file for a green card if we wish to continue in US. Once the first 2 stages of GC are approved, we can apply for visa extension.
2. Request for Extension is when USCIS asks for more evidence to show that I am in speciality occupation. In my case, the document I received from USCIS looked like a copy paste. They had my employer name as one of Target/Walmart/Home Depot/Bed Bath & Beyond. They wanted me to prove that my work require a bachelors degree. It was a given that if you are an Indian working for an Indian company, you get an RFE during 2017-2018.
3. We are allowed to work for upto 240 days (forgot actual number) while an application for visa extension is pending. Driving license in some states is tied to visa with a max of 2 years. It is strange that the state government wouldn't let me drive, but continued to tax me even for the income I earned in India during this period. My employer paid for my Uber, but I hated it. I was like that lady in a Black Mirror episode where everyone gets a rating and trying too hard to please others. I especially hated the need for small talk because I was really miserable. I got so upset when my rating went down the first time (most likely because I told the driver I would tip in app after seeing his note that he accepts tip with a tip jar and some cash), I wrote to Uber customer care asking for refund of the tip which they did! My rating dropped from 4.9 to 4.74 during the first 2 weeks and then came back up to 4.9 once I started tipping in cash.
4. I still don't know what was the psychology behind me wanting to go back to India. I experienced a lot of emotional pain pretty much every day from the 2nd or 3rd year. I used to drive to work with tears in my eyes. At some point, I noticed that I get tears automatically while I am waiting at a particular traffic signal or if I walk through a particular office entrance. Those tears stopped when I took a different route or entrance! I think this whole emotional pain thing probably has a lot to do with
a. being alone in a foreign country
b. the feeling that I had no control over my life because of h1b
c. the hate I used to see for h1bs in Reddit and comment sections of some news sites
From what I know, American based tech companies pay good salaries in countries like India as well. These are of course adjusted to cost of living, which is significantly lower. I don't think it's realistic to be working in a tech company in India and expecting silicon valley salary but the salaries people usually get is generally good enough for that region.
In the countries I have direct experience of, I would however argue the pay differential can be significant beyond just cost of living adjustments though.
You're the only one saying that, though.
The state does not create people out of whole cloth.
You can only see immigration as anti-democratic when you see new immigrants as somehow inherently different than the inhabitants. When you discard any notion that they could be equal partners in building better lives here.
They are from another country and bring with them their own views, traditions and culture... They don't get mind-wiped when they land on US soil.
H1B holders are free to change employers, but the new employer has to apply for a new visa (not subject to the cap). I've changed my job 3 times on an H1B, always for a better role and more pay.
Theoretically, nothing prevents them from changing jobs just like with a <6 y.o. H1B. Also, theoretically, nothing prevents the old employer from recalling the I-140. In such a case there are, probably, ways to still retain legal status but they are far more complicated than filing for a new H1B.
Also untrue. Employers can only revoke I-140s within the first 6 months after approval. After that, they can't do anything if the employee decides to leave.
In 1882, when the first immigration law specifically called out Chinese people for exclusion?
Or today, when the internationally agreed upon framework for asylum is actively undermined by the current administration?
And what makes these sales just, fair, or even productive?
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=539139...
Eh. Remote from office? How does that work?
[1] I was natural born so it was entirely by choice. Specifically, my wife was not in the US and we compared what it would take to get me into her country vs. her into mine and it was a difference of... starkness, thousands of dollars and the possibility of her being unable to work for a period.
Hopefully it all works out!
https://www.wsj.com/articles/real-estate-developers-look-to-...
USCIS mandates that the investment (in this case, $500K) should be at risk.
However, if one has $1M to invest and create 10 jobs for two years, this pipeline hasn't exhausted per-country quota as yet. The GP makes enough money to go through this route. Buy a failing business in some area, run it for a loss and get the green card. Here, one doesn't need to deal with sleazy lawyers.
$7.25 per hr is the min wage in some states. $20K per year per job. 10 jobs per year = $200K. Run it until conditions are removed for the green card. Due to delays in gc processing, add one more year to 2 years conditional period. So, 3 years in total. The total cost: $200K * 3 = $600K.