New US rules may prevent H1B visa extension

[0rganism]

Source: The Hindu

The move could directly stop hundreds of thousands of foreign workers from keeping their H-1B visas while their green card applications are pending.
The U.S. is considering new regulations aimed at preventing the extension of H-1B visas, predominantly used by Indian IT professionals, as part of President Donald Trump’s “Buy American, Hire American” initiative, a media report has said.

The move could directly stop hundreds of thousands of foreign workers from keeping their H-1B visas while their green card applications are pending.

The proposal which is being shared between the Department of Homeland Security Department (DHS) heads is part of Mr. Trump’s “Buy American, Hire American” initiative promised during the 2016 campaign, U.S.-based news agency McClatchy’s DC Bureau reported.
...

Read more: http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/new-us-rules-may-prevent-h1b-visa-extension/article22358750.ece

---

this directly impacts dozens of people i work with every day

[cstanleytech]

1. Anyone want to tell Donald how stupid this is because all it will accomplish is

companies will just offshore the jobs faster and thanks to him and the Repugnants there is nothing in the tax bill they passed to entice companies not to do that.

[0rganism]

3. that's one reason i supported H1B visas generally, even when it got uncomfortable

sure, the H1B employees are not locals, but they damn well contribute to the local economy. they rent apartments, they buy groceries and cars and gasoline, they do laundry, these are people who pay their way. and now it's going to be much harder for them to do any of it. thanks Trump.

[kimbutgar]

4. I got to this flea market in silicon valley

There are so many People from Asia that are there and they support local merchants. They bring extended family members. Silcon valley will be decimated if they pull these visas and green cards. Our educational system is not training young Americans for these jobs. Off shoring in Canada and other freidnely countries will hurt the US.

I hate dumb a$$ bigots like that ICE clown.

[bronxiteforever]

2. Kick & recommend for visibility. His 4 year shit show rolls on.

[notdarkyet]

5. But what will trump do for help. At miralago? How will junior get his grapes picked? Hypocrites.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

6. That's not affected by H1B visa program.

At miralago, the sheets are changed by people on H-2B visas. Farm work, like picking grapes, is done by people on H-2A visas. Screwing with the H-1B program won't affect those aspects of trump's empire.

So, rest easy, notdarkyet, our president's fortunes are still protected.

[MrQRO]

7. Sorry Folks

Flame Me, Hate Me! I'm not a bigot, or any of that, but I've been in the High Tech biz for 35 years....
There are MANY qualified young and old Americans who can fill all these H1 jobs!

The young ones could be paying off their school debts, the old ones could be not fighting against
insurance and household debt issues....

The Tech Co's want CHEAP offshore work, and they get it by use of abuse of H1 visa's.

Ask us young and old tech qualified American workers, and we will confirm this!

If there was REALLY a shortage, that would be one thing, it's just that they don't want to pay us our qualified wages,
and hire off-shore labor on the cheap!

It's true, it's real, it's documented!

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

9. These are not offshored employees

They live and work and study and buy in their communities. The H-1B regulations require that H-1B workers be paid at least the prevailing wage or above. Studies have shown the wages paid to H-1B workers are higher on average.

Having done quite a few of these visas for people in Silicon Valley and other places, I can tell you many if not most of these individuals have Master's degrees, some of which are from U.S. universities. They work and pay taxes in the local communities; they rent and buy homes; they send their kids to school; etc. However, they are often always scared by the possible changes in the regulations that make them feel tentative and not part of the community.

If all these H-1B workers leave, there won't be enough replacement workers to meet the demand. I recall some job positions were open for several months to a year, jobs that pay $130K or more (which is not saying that much in Sunnyvale, Mountain View or Cupertino).

[0rganism]

10. that's one viewpoint

i have a different one.

many of my colleagues are here on H1B and believe it or not they are not easily replaceable. i'm talking people with graduate degrees, people with Real Skills, and those skills will be missed -- but not for long. the next step the company i work for (and many others) will take is to expand offshore hiring to bring those people back just not here -- in Bangalore and Panang and Chengdu, where their skills can still benefit the honchos. so instead, only their contributions to our local culture and economy will be missed, probably permanently.

this is NOT a win for us.

[marble falls]

11. Thats not bigotry, thats a fact: businesses abuse H1 visas to keep wages low.

[TexasBushwhacker]

12. Yup. My boss said that Americans don't want to work hard enough

The employer may pay the "prevailing wage" but expect 60 to 80 hour weeks for it.

[marble falls]

13. Where I last worked they went out of their way to not hire Americans, last minute ads, minimum ....

job descriptions, mis-catagorying ads etc. Plus they kept H1B employees on property so they worked all and odd shifts while we were kept to 32 hrs or less. H1B workers were unhappy about it but being sent home early was a potent threat.

[TexasBushwhacker]

14. Yeah. I call it Slavery 2.0

Employers can treat them like shit and not give them the benefits they deserve, but they don't dare complain for fear of being sent home.

[onetexan]

15. i happen to agree with you, and i have mixed feelings about the H1B visa program

In my nearly 30 years in the tech industry I've seen many well qualified, highly experienced and highly productive coworkers let go and replaced by a crew of offshore (mainly Indian and Chinese) resources working remotely. The result is an unmotivated workforce with low productivity (from these offshore folks) and high stress for onshore resources who have to train them and shoulder the weight of the bulk of the work. While they were employed my American counterparts worked harder, filled in for the offshore resources where they lacked, and always had more accountability. In these times many American corporations no longer value their onshore employees as assets. It's all about how much they can save given labor is almost always the highest cost, and the easiest to cut.
I also find that coworkers from western Europe (Germany, France, Belgium, Sweden, etc.) are also more highly qualified. They are also considered high cost labor areas so they're in the same boat as us in the US & Canada. That said, the EU countries have better labor laws than we do so they're protected and better compensated in the case they're pink slipped.

My belief is that for the most part our universities produce good engineers and other professionals in the STEM fields, and corporations should invest in hiring domestically rather than overseas to encourage/nurture talent. There is no longer such a thing as employer loyalty given it's cheaper to outsource overseas in the cheap labor countries; and as a result this likewise diminishes employee loyalty. The highly skilled employees are more likely to change jobs faster knowing companies don't value them as much any more.

[X_Digger]

16. Having spent a dozen years working for Verizon, I wholeheartedly agree.

I can still remember Shaygan bitching at a conference bridge full of developers that he could get a bus full of infosys guys for as much as the five of them were being paid.

The H1B guys were terrified of taking vacation time, worked minimum 60 hours, and were stacked 4 to a 2 bedroom apartment. And they were paid 30-50% less than we were. Oh, Verizon was paying Infosys 'prevailing wages', but fuck if that meant shit to the actual guys doing the work.

[Skittles]

17. I agree

the notion there are no Americans to fill these jobs is absolute BULLSHIT

[Sgent]

8. There are two H1-B visa programs

the one that requires only a bachelor degree needs a significant retooling. They are straight up being used to replace / not pay american workers.

The one requiring a Doctorate and for grad students needs to be extended, and possibly expanded with as little disruption as possible.