Gates wants to scrap H-1B visas

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Actually that's not true - at all.

To get an H1-B (Specialty occupation worker) you have a) have a
job waiting for you, b) be resident outside the US and c) have an
occupation which your employer has shown they cannot fill
inside the US.

Now I worked a long time with companies that employed many,
many, workers on H-1's. It is true that rule c) is pretty much
unenforceable - if a company says they have tried to fill a slot
and can't, it's hard to prove them wrong and IRS as far as I can
tell doesn't even try.

But it is true that they have to show need for a specific speciality
and "university student" does not fit that description. H-1's are
pretty much universally already professionally employed in their
own
country. If you enter the US as a student you come in on a J-1 or
(nore normally) on an F visa. You cannot convert a J-1 or F to an
H-1. Listen to the man - I came to the States on a J-1, and my
wife on an F visa and both of our employers wanted to retain us
- but could not legally apply for H class visas.

Of roughly 200 people in my first workplace, there were about
140 H-1 and J-1 visa holders. All had postgraduate degrees, but
as far as I know not one had a degree from a US university.
Foreigners who want to stay on in the US after colege go a
different route to H-1B.

So H-1B's are very, very rarely educated in the US. They
generally come from overseas universities and businesses. It is
true that H-1B's are sometimes paid less than their US
counterparts, but sometimes they are paid more. In the US you
don't get what you deserve - you get what you can negotiate
(and to people from China or India, even a lower starting salary
can sound like a pretty good deal). Certainly, both jobs I held in
the US I got MORE than almost all my co-workers - simply
because I negotiated a higher starting rate.

Hope that helps clear up some misconceptions.

Cheers, Mark

Posted by: markdoc.geo   Posted on: 04/28/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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