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Newsjock

(11,733 posts) Tue Apr 14, 2015, 02:58 PM Apr 2015

U.S. gets 233,000 H-1B petitions, a new record

Source: Computerworld

The U.S. received 233,000 H-1B petitions this year, believed to the highest number ever, and almost three times the number of available visas.

The government issues 85,000 H-1B visas each year, 20,000 of which were set aside for people who had earned advanced degrees. Because the number of H-1B visas exceeded the cap, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service is distributing the visas via a lottery, which was held today. (Monday)

... The high number of visa petitions received by the government will likely be cited by supporters of an H-1B increase. U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), along with some industry groups, planned a press conference Tuesday to urge passage of the I-Squared Act. That bill, which has 11 Senate co-sponsors, would increase the base H-1B cap from 65,000 to 195,000, and would eliminate the cap on people who earn an advanced degree in a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) field.

But the push for the increase in the H-1B cap comes at the same time that 10 senators, including Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the Judiciary Committee chairman, have asked the U.S. Department of Justice, and other agencies, to investigate the H-1B program.

Read more: http://www.computerworld.com/article/2909350/us-gets-233000-h-1b-petitions-a-new-record.html

2 replies

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U.S. gets 233,000 H-1B petitions, a new record (Original Post) Newsjock Apr 2015 OP

Hillary has an H-1B problem. Wilms Apr 2015 #1

I read an interesting proposal on this on the ycombinator news board metalbot Apr 2015 #2

Wilms

(26,795 posts)

1. Hillary has an H-1B problem.

Reply to Newsjock (Original post)

Tue Apr 14, 2015, 03:16 PM

Apr 2015

That's one of the things I find alienating about her positions.

metalbot

(1,058 posts)

2. I read an interesting proposal on this on the ycombinator news board

Reply to Newsjock (Original post)

Tue Apr 14, 2015, 07:11 PM

Apr 2015

Right now, we give out the H1-B's via lottery - it's random which of the 230k people get the visas.

If you instead prioritized the visa applications via salary, you'd eliminate the major complaints of major tech companies (we can't find great engineers) and also limit the degree to which large Indian IT companies could abuse the process by allowing US companies to outsource their IT. The cost factor puts the pressure on companies to find better, rather than cheaper resources.

I'm trying to work through what the downsides of this approach would be.

1. It probably hurts younger foreign workers (recent graduates) who view the H-1B program as a lottery.
2. It could put downward pressure on top end IT workers (the IT professionals who make $250k+ per year), and that could have a trickle down effect on the rest of IT.
3. Companies will clearly game the process (claim higher wages and not pay them, or insist that IT workers "owe" them for the visa). Gaming the system that way is illegal, but commonly practiced now, so it isn't clear that it would get worse.

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