Big positive news for the all the US STEM Masters students and prospective highly skilled workers planning to come to America on H1B visa. Today the Comprehensive Immigration Reform ( CIR) passed the Senate Judiciary committee after a long debate. There are many aspects of the immigration bill, which got passed…But, in interest of our blog readers, we will cover the summary related to H1B Visas, Green card and Startup Visa and Comprehensive immigration bill changes.
Summary of H1B Visa Changes, Green Card, Startup Visa in 2013 Comprehensive Immigration Reform :
- The annual H1B Visas cap for highly skilled workers will be increased from 65,000 per year to 110,000 per year.
- The advanced degree H1B cap for STEM degree holders from US schools, will be increased from 20,000 to 25,000 visas.
- There are provisions mentioned in the bill that the H1B cap could be potentially increased to 180,000 per year, if there is extreme demand for highly skilled workers that fiscal year.
- More stringent rules on H1B Visa approvals for companies that have about 15% of their workforce as H1B visa. Essentially, strict rules for someone who are planning to abuse the H1b program.
- No Green Card limits for individuals with extraordinary abilities, especially research fellows, Professors, MNC executives, athletes.
- A new startup visa for encouraging foreign entrepreneurs to start companies in USA
- A new 250,000 merit based visas to immigrate to USA. The point system will be based on education, employment, length of residence in US, etc. The 55,000 diversity visa lottery program that is currently used today will be removed to cater to needs of employment and merit.
We will post detail in-depth analysis in the upcoming articles. The Comprehensive Immigration reform is a mammoth 867 Page document …Phewwwww!
Next Steps on 2013 Immigration Bill and H1B Visa changes – Process ?
Current state is that the comprehensive bill passed Senate Judiciary committee with a 13 to 5 vote yesterday. Next step is to have this comprehensive immigration bill introduced in the Senate in next month for full round of debate. We will keep you posted with updates.
What are your thoughts ? Do you think these changes are good enough for future H1B visa seekers?
Reference Links
- Washington Post : Immigration Bill 2013 Passes Senate Judiciary Committee
- The Hill : Senate Judiciary Committee advances immigration reform bill
- Huffington Post : CIR Passes Sen Judiciary Committee
- Times of India : H1B Visa Changes passed by Sen Judiciary Committee
- Zee News : Senate Judiciary Committee Passes H1B increase
I just don’t get how Indians can be so nationalistic about their country when you look at the hordes of Indians on this website who are looking for a way out of their own country. Either stop being so nationalistic and accept what India really is, or hold your nationalistic views and remain in your country.
Have you ever thought how many of the US companies are doing business in India?
Do you know all the MF investments in India finally made their way back to US as most of the players are from US.
Being nationalistic is one part but what prevents any nationalistic to travel for employment.
And let us accept US is the country built by the immigrants. Started with the Europeans, then the Africans, then the Far east population.
So be happy that people from different part of the world are pushing you to get smart so act fast 🙂
I do not agree that some body is pushing Americans to become smart. Americans have been and are always smart but unfortunately they are not being recognized under this corporate wall street driven greedy management looking for short-term business profits at the expense of American’s jobs. Also what is really happening is the offshore consultants are being brought onshore to copy the work of US citizens at work and doing continuous KT to other offshore teams so that the companies don’t have to hire US citizens again and can simply switch between the offshore consultants when their visa expires. This used to happen in Technical development area before and now it has spread to business functional consulting as well. Any US citizen can experience this when they work as a contractor or FT role for any Indian IT firms such as HCL, Wipro, Cognizant etc. There is literally video recording of business sessions, KT sessions during day time by the offshore consultant being onshore and knowledge transfer to offshore team during the night. Unfortunately the pitiful thing is that the higher management folks in these companies who are US citizens are encouraging this for their own selfishness and to earn big bonuses. The only way this kind of practices in addition to abuse of temporary immigrant visas can stop is when the US citizens write to their senators and congressmen to describe this kind of employment practices so that this will be stopped some day and Americans jobs are protected and they are respected the way they should be. I sincerly urge this.
A majority of Indians don’t come here just for employment. Employment is what brought them here, but once they are on L1B’s or H1B’s they are always eager to get their green cards with the eventual goal of becoming US citizens. It is because of this immigrant intent that Indians pay consultants to file for new H1B’s or transfer their H1B’s from Infosys, TCS etc (who don’t file for green cards). These people then become walking contradictions when they express their nationalistic view about India and how it is the best country in the world and how they wish they could go back to visit. Those idiots need to realize that you can’t have your cake and eat it too.
Is there any other bill which is making h1b immigration strict?
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/careers/job-trends/Not-a-great-fan-of-running-a-company-based-on-visas-Narayana-Murthy/articleshow/22369930.cms
Please comment if you have some idea.
Americans are becoming solidly opposed to the H1B Visa program and this anger is rising like a tidal wave.
Many Americans are working to have the H1B Visa program abolished outright.
They are becoming an increasingly powerful force in the United States.
I doubt it, most Americans in technical fields realize that they don’t have the political power to fight this. I am resigned to earning $20K/ yr as a US citizen with an advanced degree in chemical engineering and a lot of experience.
This increase of H1B cap is unncessary and totally irresponsible action from our law makers. This only increases the abuse of H1B visa by all Indian IT companies bringing cheap labor from India and hurting the careers and job opportunities for equally skilled and much well qualified US citizens who have atleast 25+ years of experience in US companies and who are living & paying taxes in US. Also, those H1B folks who join the Indian IT companies in India are coming here…getting the valuable knowledge from client…replace the US workers and then they quickly changes jobs using phony experience to earn more salary/ bill rates. This is badly hurting the highly skilled US workers unable to earn reasonable salary or bill rates….on top of that the recruiting comapanies trying to maximize thier margings are hurting US based IT workers. There are countless number of examples if some ones follows a trail of how a FT job or contract job is being posted…who applied for it…what is each applicant’s status…what salary they asked for …who finally got the job …guess what the H1B workers asking lowest salary/ bill rate got it. They work for low rate because thier goal is not to spend the money in US…simply earn as much as they can , invest in India and go back and live comfortably there. US economy doesn’t grow with these people…the US companies become profitable…every one know US economy grows by consumer spending. It’s time..this need to stop…please write to the senators and to the president to stop this bill in Senate. Enough is Enough….the law makers should listen to Citizens not IT companies/ US clients that are abusing the H1B visa system.
If you had read through the bill …. you would not have posted your retarded rant about H1b quota increase.
The bill is closing the loophole for H1b abusers by increasing H1b fees and penalties which has a direct impact on those IT contracting firms that are responsible for wage depression!
I do know that. But that might not do much…. large IT consulting firms have large employee base ..so the 15% H1B employee cap on companies can still absorb all 110k H1B workers combining all companies together. Also, $10K penalty will be passed on to the client so the IT company can still afford to pay the penalty. I am just saying that the solution has to come from grass-root level understanding the real issue…instead the senate immigration committee listned to a H1B lobbiest and green card lobbyist when it comes to immigration of highly skilled workers. Anyhow, let’s not drag on this. I wrote to my concerns to my senator.
Everyone understands the concern, and though its bitter, it might be the truth what you stated. But the new bill has in fact caused a lot of concerns for the Indian IT companies -because of the H1b holders they already have in US- the quota for them getting more has diminished. That’s why they are planning to start applying greencards as the greencard holders will be exempt from the existing h1b holders count.
What’s your view on this? Greencards and citizenship will make these workers a part of US, does that resolve the issue?
The solution is to abolish the H1B Visa program.
I have many expat friends that want to settle in the U.S. permanently.
Currently, only 3% of H1B and other guest worker visa holders settle permanently in the U.S.
I know it is difficult because of the quota, but if there were no quota, 50% of the population of the Indian subcontinent would come over to the U.S. – and that is not fair to people in other countries who want to come to the U.S.
My friend Suresh is here on an H1B Visa, his sister has a family here in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Suresh returned briefly to India to have a traditional matchmaker type wedding.
Now he and his wife have a daughter, who is a U.S. citizen. Suresh has a greencard, and now he is settling permanently in the U.S.
He has an advanced ETL skills with Informatica. (Database work) But are his skills so advanced that there is no American that can do his work? No, in fact he displaces Americans every single job. They hire him, and show every single American the door. When we came off our last gig, I was afraid he would lose his sponsorship, etc. and worked frantically to get him another gig. It was a foolish emotion, because he was not worried at all. Indians on the work visas get new gigs immediately. It took me nine months of constant interviewing and all day long work to get a new job.
The work visa program is giving Indians and India a bad name. Most Americans are growing to dislike India and Indians because they displace Americans and we go hungry. The job searching is killing many of us. The Obama Administration has made it much worse. I am one of the few Americans that knows or cares anything about India, and there is so much I don’t know about.
Americans will never understand the caste system. FCs and SCs: Americans can only view that as racism. Also, WTF is a “Desi”? there is so much racism in India apparently. I hope these things never get out in the U.S. You have to get really close to an Indian expat before they will talk about these things. They know Americans would be repelled.
Keep in mind, America did not get to be a superpower for no reason. And reports of the demise of American power have been wildly exaggerated. Wildly. America can turn off the spigot to India, China, Russia, whomever. We would get by just fine.
Anyways, I am working to have the H1B Visa and other guest worker visa programs abolished. Anyone smart enough, who cares enough to become an American, like my expat friends, can get it done if they want it badly enough.
I am writing all the senators in congress daily now – I set up a script to email them all daily, and I am working on my Boston-area representatives as well.
I am a proponent of legal immigration and permanent settlement in the United States.
One note: despite my opinons stated above, I have worked in the past and will continue to work to help out my expat friends. But they really on’t need my help, the guest worker visa program is such a scam.
I hope this helped explain the position and feelings of many Americans. One thing my Indian friends and others around the world always express to me: America is a country that can get things done when the U.S. decides it wants to take action. And pressure is building due tothe abuses of a few Indian firms.
I have a question for you. Your friend Suresh is a greencard holder and on his way to become a US citizen. So more or less, he will settle here only and not in India. That means he is earning enough to support and raise his family here?
So why do you think he got a job easily and you didnt? The answer will be probably Suresh demands less salary? But that salary is enough to sustain a family in US and give him the courage to live permanently.
So i wonder why that much money was not enough for you. Are there 2 options only? Living luxuriously by earning a lot or doing nothing? There’s a middle way also. If one chooses not to take 70-80k $ a year but instead complain that he is not getting a 100k and sit idle- then you cant blame the program.
The surprising thing is the new law though increases the number of h1b workers but makes it tougher for exploitation. So going by your propaganda, you should actually support that. You are probably unaware that there is a lot of concern in the Indian IT industry because of this.
I chose to reply to this comment as you were mentioning about your friend Suresh who might just be a US citizen in a few years and surprisingly is in fact an example of the success of h1b program and not its failure.
there are more irish, italian, chinese, mexicans in usa than indians. why are you writing against indians only? on which visas chinese come to US? are you planing to stop selling your products in india? i guess no. u want to sell ur pepsi, coke, ford, GM, apple and hell lot of crap in india but cant see any indian working in US.
The problem is Indians drive down the rates of IT contractors. They come to the US and take American jobs. Most of the projects I work on are 70% Indians. C’mon…wake up!
This is true, I got laid-off from a NASA Contractor after the Shuttle Program was canceled. Had to take a 35K pay cut to get a new job. Work with 3 Indians that are extremely hard to understand. I know plenty of laid-off developers that could easily do their job better. Why are we bringing all these guys over to drive down the salaries and take American jobs. I’m a women working with 3 Indian Men, I can’t even begin to tell you how disrespectful they are to women. The company is hiring 2 Indians for the price of 1 American. This is really getting ridiculous.
Looks like a frustrated desi, dude keeping a English Handle name(Kevin) doesn’t helps.
Indians are not coming to America to clean houses, pick vegetables, or work in factories.
They are coming here to be doctors, CEO’s, and engineers – they are are intentionally being exported to America and around the world to take the highest paying jobs.
It is irresponsible for America to continue this trend en-masse, assuming that Americans do not want to have the highest paying jobs in the United States. We should be training our own people to do these jobs, and bringing in outsiders to fill jobs as store clerks and restaurant workers.
The high-value workers program was intended to create opportunity for people with very rare and highly specialized skills – astrophysicists with specialized background, for example.
There are only 50 states in the U.S. 110,000 indians per year? that is 2000 new people per state. Each state only has one or two major cities. Are there really 1000 NEW jobs in each of those citied?
The answer is “no”. Indian ex-pats are now RUNNING projects in the U.S. that they were originally brought in to “supplement”, and they given preferential hiring in the U.S.
Since the Indian incursion, the industry has had to create extreme anti-fraud measures that we never had before the Indians came to America to work in jobs paying as much as $150/hr – 5 times the salary of other skilled jobs in America.
I’m about to give up trying – in my own country – to compete with Indians for jobs in field where I have 30 years experience.
7/11 workers, subway owners, gas station owners, %100 duty on American cars, caste system
Thanks Saurabh & developers for such a wonderful forum.
I’m american citizen with 18 years of IT experience but very very difficult to get the job in US as the process is very tedious too many people calls from India and I came to know that there are 3000 recruiting companies operating from India where we share our SSN and other details and bear stupid questions from them???? Obama before correcting Immigration and Increase H1B, don’t you think you need to clean up the recruiting process???? And get all Americans on the jobs.
Hi Saurabh,
I received my master’s Degree (MIS) in US in STEM field in May 2005. My GC is filed under EB3 as per my company rules and PD on my PERM is Dec 2010. I have approved 140 and I got 3 year extension which is valid till Dec 2014. If the bill passes how would my case be treated?
Ady,
In the Senate bill, there is a provision to clear-off the EB GC backlog i.e. process all petitions which have been pending for more than 3 years (from Oct 1, 2014). Yours may get picked up as part of that expedited process.
Again, its still a bill and the final version may vary.
Saurab Plzzzzz can u tell us if the H1B Cap for this year has increased…Pls see the link under
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-07-11/four-immigration-bills-house-republicans-approved-while-no-one-was-looking
Rapunzel,
It has not been increased yet. The 4 bills mentioned in the article have been approved by the House Judiciary committee. The whole House has not voted on it and it then needs to pass the Senate.
Remember, the same bill needs to be passed by both House and Senate. If different versions are approved, then they need to reconciled.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/s744#
which you my find useful in tracking the CIR bill yourself
Hey Guys,
Anyone has any idea when the House is going to decide on the immigration bill???
Thx
AK,
The House Speaker is not very keen in bringing this bill to the floor. They are planning on their own a-la-carte version.
Any updates on WAC 143 Series?
Hi Saurabh
I am in L1 now , do we have still opportunity to apply H1 for this year? in-case if the bill approves before October and cap counts increases.
Kavya,
If the bill becomes law w/ the provision of going into effect from next fiscal year, then you have a chance. The next fiscal year starts on Oct 1, 2013 and if it becomes a law prior to that w/ the provision, then you can file H-1. If it is approved after Oct 1, 2013 or is not approved at all, then you can file on or after April 1, 2014.
Hi, I am currently working in US on H1 B visa through a indian IT firm. And I am currently on extended I94 till feb’14 (stamped visa expired feb’13)
I have two questions here
1. I am planning to go to india for vacations in nov this year , do you think there will be any problem during my extension stamping interview due to this immigration reform ?
2. Will there be any problem in further extension H1 B , I94?
Thanks very much in advance !!
AK,
1. If the law is not enacted, then you will not be impacted at all. If the law is enacted, then you will have to see what the final version is. As it still needs to be presented and passed in the House, lot of language can change.
2. Same as (1)
IF THIS GETS PASSED, WILL THE PEOPLE WHO DID NOT GET THROUGH H1B THIS YEAR AT LEAST GETS THEIR APPLICATION LOOKED AT????
needmyH1,
The bill has provision to increase the cap from next fiscal year. So if it is passed prior to Oct 1, then it should increase the current cap (fiscal year for which starts on Oct 1, 2013). If that happens, anyone can reapply for those slots irrespective of whether you missed out in current lottery or not.
Also, may I suggest to stop shouting in online forum (that’s what ALL CAPS mean).
Hi,
When this will be placed in House or is It already placed ?
Any tentative date ?
Uma Mahesh,
There is no tentative dates as there is pretty much a deadlock in the House. The House Speaker plans to work on their own bill and not bring this to vote unless majority of Republicans support it. We will know more when House reconvenes after the July 4th break.
I would like to the impact of the potential CIR bill on GC processing for H1B holders with a Masters degree from US university in a degree that is not STEM.
SA,
I don’t think it has any special provision for such cases. The only thing that can impact you is that they plan to clear the employment based backlog for anyone who petition has been pending for more than 3 years in Oct 2014. So it will clear the backlog for you especially if you are from one of the backlogged countries like India, China etc.
Thank you for the response. Let me give a few more details. I am trying to understand the scenario if the bill passes. I have a Masters degree in a non-STEM field and currently on H1B. I am planning to apply for GC in the coming month. So, if the bill passes, will my I-485 become current if it is filed by then or will it become current 3 years from when it is filed? Also, I understand that GC filing in EB-2 category is possible for me. I am correct?
SA,
As its still a bill, a lot can change. However, based on the version which passed Senate my understanding is that they will start clearing the backlog in Oct 2014 for petitions pending more than 3 years. This would mean cases w/ priority date of Oct 2011 or earlier.
Everyone else will get in queue and will get processed as visa numbers become available. However, there are also plans to remove per country limits, not use separate visa numbers for dependents, remove diversity visa etc which all can help in quicker processing of those left remaining in the queue.
Thanks again.. It clarifies my questions almost completely. Just one more-I do have a Bachelors in Engineering. Would you be aware of any clause that may benefit me to be considered under the STEM category for concurrent I-140 & I-485 filing. I definitely understand that this still a bill but I would like to understand the bill as it is today and hope that it passes as a law 🙂
SA,
I don’t know about it.
Hi Saurabh,
My GC/PERM is filed for but may not be approved by October which is when my H1B expires. So I will need to leave the country and then return in a few months after PERM/I140approval. Does the Bill address the “Having to leave the country” scenario for GC applicants while PERM is in process?
Rohit,
I don’t think there is any provision for people in situation similar to yours. The requirements for 7th year extension is still the same – approved I-140 or pending PERM or I-140 for more than 365 days.
Hi Saaurabh,
Thanks for getting back. For the 7th year extension, can I get it as soon as the PERM / I140 are approved or will I need to apply subject to H1B cap? In other words, assuming my PERM / I140 gets approved in December 2013, can I get back immediately or should I file in April 2014?
Rohit,
It can be filed soon after and doesn’t need to wait till April.
as per the proposed immigration bill,does anybody have the details of how much increase of H1b salaries would have to be borne by the employers
Hi,
Can anyone let me know, what would happen for the H1B count after passing the immigration bill by referring this below link please
http://www.inc.com/jeremy-quittner/senate-immigration-bill-everify-h1b.html
Saurabh
Can you tell me.. is there any chance to increase the visa count in this bill .. or the people who were not through in lottery will get another chance by this year.
Thanks in advance
Manivannan,
My understanding is that cap in current season will be increased only if it signed into law before Oct 1, 2013.
Thanks saurabh for your prompt reply!!!!
Hi Sourabh,
Is this bill going to effect the Visa for this year too..I mean my H1b is under process now..
will this bill influence the Visa approval..
And if not this year..How will it influence in future once we land in US ..I mean for extension of H1b or for green card process..
Thank you..
Kishore,
If your H-1 has already made through the lottery, then you are not impacted by what’s going on the bill. Yes, future H-1 extensions and GC processing may be impacted by the bill.
So will H4 be able to work or there is that GC application dependency?
I am on h1B here, can my wife come and work with H4? Green card hasnt been applied for me yet
H4 Can not work. There is some hope for them after the new Immigration bill is passed ( my speculation).
HI Saurabh
Any idea about the specific provision which prohibits any company with more than 15 per cent of its workforce on H1Bs from placing H1B workers at client sites or contracting for the
services of those workers.
This seems a major blow to any IT consulting firm, I am not sure how will they find a workaround.
DJ,
Don’t know about this provision, but what I know (w.r.t. consulting firms) is that it prohibits companies from having more than 75% of workforce on H-1 and L-1 visas. This number will be reduced to 65% and eventually 50% by 2016. This means consulting firms (Indian IT majors and desi companies) will have to hire more non H-1 holders. This will also help in improving the salaries of all employees in such companies, but some of them may shut their doors.
It also increases H-1 filing fees for companies w/ more than 30% of workforce on H-1 and L-1 (minimum 50 employees).
Hi Saurabh
Does that mean all H4 dependents will be able to get EAD or only those H4 for whose H1 GC process is started?
AC,
I didn’t see any criteria for pending GC process. Pending GC was related to a provision which USCIS was coming-up w/. The bill allows for all dependents to work. Anyone, please correct me if I am wrong.
I think H4(Indian) can’t get work permit….is it true??
I posted this earlier also but it got lost somewhere ! Could you tell me what is the provision for EB GC in this bill? Is there a possibility of moving the dates faster or making it current or may be even not having separate queues for countries?
GC_WAIT,
Some of the provisions that I know of:
– Exemption of derivative family members from annual employment based GC limits
– Reallocation of above visa numbers to STEM holders
– Merit based point system for permanent residency. From Oct 2014, GC will be allocated to those waiting for GC for at least 3 years. In the long run, points will be awarded on the basis of education, years of residence in US, employment etc.
Saurabh,
Is this new bill going to provide any help for H4 holders? I mean any work opportunity for them?
Vikrant,
Yes, it will allow the dependents to work. I haven’t seen any restrictions on dependents’ qualifications, but haven’t gone through the bill in details.
It has already passed the Senate, and the real battle in House begins now.
It also doesn’t say that H4 dependents can work :), unless they clearly specify that H4 can work, old / original / current law holds good 🙂 ….meaning H4 cannot work.
No worries… you can always hire an Indian on H1-B visa to help you understand!
Sam,
The bill has a provision allowing H-4 dependents to work. The original bill had a reciprocity clause i.e. dependents of only those countries can work which allow American dependents to work in that country. However, that has since been amended, and there is no longer a reciprocity clause.
Yes, until the bill is signed into a law and signed by the President, old rules apply.
Senate passes the Bill!! 68-32 votes.
Now moves to House.
Senate passes the bill! 68-32 votes
@ joe & question…
Then why your country need our indian workers still. and they should give employment to you instead hiring foreign workers… we wont think about H1B untill once your home country is not willing to give opportunity to your home employers …
again not hating, just letting you know.
@Manivanan
lol….US govt is run virtually by big corporations. If the govt doesnt give them priority, then those big corporations wont help the Senators in elections or any other situations 🙂
Coming to H1B visas, Indians who are on H1B visas share their apartment with 4 other H1B friends (for example 2bed room apt), so that each one would pay only 400bux / month rent (considering rent is 2000$/month in bay area, CA). So they are ready to work even for 40K-50K salary / year.
People who come here on Business visa abuse it completely by working as a software programmer for their client & are ready to work for 2000$ / month perdiem with a packed guest house, shared rental car + Salary in India according to Rs.
Now consider an American; he will have family here (example:- family of 4) & if nobody else works in his family, how can he afford to work for 40 – 50K / year salary?, he wont share apartment with anybody else like H1B indians.
Above is just 1 such example out of 1000’s of examples:)
As an older American IT worker who has worked in the field for the last 18 years…..
H1B visas are to blame for the decline of IT salaries for Americans….
They are not better for American workers…they are better for company profits.
Company profits seem to be more important the treatment of workers or reasonable pay.
The idea that we don’t have highly skilled worker in American is a SCAM!!!
…the real issue is companies dont want to pay you what “is reasonable”
….. because they can hire a someone with an H1B visa at 1/2 the cost.
You, like most people seem to have a good deal of expertise in your field, but not in Economics or Global Business. The biggest problem breathing this sweet air of freedom in America is… not immigrants… not capitalism either… not china… its MINIMUM WAGE. The riches that America sees today are a direct result of capitalism, free enterprise, and free markets. The only thing that keeps America from truly being free-market is the minimum wage law. Abolish this law! Let the market forces determine wages. Manufacturing will come back to USA, Americans will have jobs, Immigration will reduce.
What would you rather have? $50,000 a year or nothing at all?
Dude tell me one company Americans love most, you guessed it right Apple.
Never heard anyone talking on them, how all their manufacturing jobs has moved to China.
I might not be vastly experienced like you but I know manufacturing industry is largest job maker for any country and I never see anyone talking about them, how they have completely moved everything out of US and we here in US are just consumers.
Now let’s talk on H1B guys, they pay taxes as every other individual and guess what they are never going to benefit from the social security tax they are paying because they will be back to their respective countries.
Now tell me who is benefiting from whom?
As a US tech worker who stumbled upon this forum, I must admit to your readers that your enthusiasm for this bill is exactly mirrored by our disappointment. We have enormous unemployment problems for highly-skilled workers in the US and do not need more workers. Thanks for reading.
Not hating, just letting you know.
Yeah Joe. I hear ya.
I don’t get why anyone would want to work here? And no one has responded to my question. H1b is the modern indentured for rich companies to get richer. If you are highly skilled in a country like India you should be able to do well in India. I just don’t get it. The H1b people that come here all live in houses packed with many people and work for 20 bucks an hour while their employer bills them out at 45 – 65 dollars an hour. It’s crazy.
Blame on Capitalism. Company never concerns about empolyment for US citizens, to them, if they hire 100 H1 worker could save maybe two million a year, and they think that they save plenty money for company with only 100 foreign employees.
It is true, 100 foreign employee to America job market is nothing, is really nothing. It even canot down the US unemployment rate to even 0.001%. But if 100 companies do this, then it is a problem.
Well the cap is higher now and hundreds of companies are doing it.
I would say it is negative side for Capitalism – they only convern about their porfit and benefit, and never take a look at rest of all.
I work in USA for last 2 years on H1B . The new immigration law ,if becomes law can affect lot of Guest workers. My understanding is there are two types of H1B workers , one that is hired directly by US companies , others are hired by an American firm from a Technology outsourcing company or just a middleman ( more commonly called a Body shopper). I came here for highly skilled technology work and I am doing that and I am here on onsite project from a reputed service firm from India. Most of the technology outsourcing firm in India is a registered Company in US , mostly their work is start an office , have a sales team to get new projects , get technology workers from India and supply to their customers where they have a offshore-onshore agreements in their contracts and of course pay these workers. Now when this law comes into effect , except a few giants outsourcers , those having a delivery centre may be able to hire locals and reduce onsite assignments, ( and this is what the US law makers want.). All other companies who just engage in supplying H1B’s just have to shut their shop and all those have to leave the place. Basically this new reform wants to hire more locals or bring technology workers directly to US firms. From my experience I feel this will only make US work less attractive in the future. As you know 80% of Technical workers are not just coming directly to US , they get trained by Indian IT companies , when a person takes up a job in a remote country , he or she need a good support initially. All these are provided by the technology companies in India. Another point is many workers just do not like to work in a foreign land for ever. So have the system of rotation , the h1b workers can be rotated so that the client do not suffer. But if US is shutting the door for these Indian Companies they are basically shutting the door for any Indian IT job seeker , who do not wish to come to far of lands without the initial good support. The result is reduced H1B workers in US , not sure whether US has the enough skilled people to replace these guest workers all of a sudden. There is another side to this story, which is not usually discussed. The American economy is benefiting a lot due to these guest workers, they pay high visa fees , they spend 60 % of their income in US itself as rentals, tourism, taxes etc. We have to see the real effect of this once the bill becomes law. Mostly I feel the outcome is , Skilled workers needed by American companies just disappears, they will find a shortage as no one interested to come to US. Americans will lose money from taxes, reduction of spending of these guest workers, their H1B visa caps will never reach because there will not be any takers. ! Enjoy local workers , you cannot just replace our talents and skills overnight.
For all those hard working US citizens and US residents in this forum expressing concern about how the current H1B program as well expected increse of H1B cap is hurting your job prospects and badly huring your earnings, please do not waste any more time talking here…..please go to Senators website from your state, write an email to the senators…only they can do something to stop this bill from passing. This is all we can do. thanks for listening.
Why do you want to work in the US?
Hi, I’m from India and been in Arizona for about 7 years now as a student as well as a professional. I will try to answer your question in the simplest way: “To get the most money for our education, skill sets and experience”. Sure anybody can do well in any country. But let me give you examples of buying power differences with entry level engineer salaries.
1. A laptop computer: US – 1 week’s pay, India – 2 months pay
2. McD’s $-menu (or “wadapav” in India): US – 2 minutes’ pay, India – 5 minutes’ pay
3. A Honda Civic: US – 4.5 months pay, 3.5 years pay
4. A 1500 sq-ft suburban house (or condo in India): US – 3 yrs pay, India – 13 yrs pay
So there you have it.
While I’m at it, let me remind everyone in this forum, that every single person in the United States who is not a feather-indian (native american) is an immigrant or a descendant of an immigrant, who came seeking freedom and opportunity just like the Indians, Chinese, and Mexicans are doing today. Don’t hate..
nailed it to d exact point bro!
lol…& with your explanation, Indians will be ready to work for even 40k – 50k / year salary….eh?,
Gimme a break….real competition in skillset is when the salary is not compromised & then letsee how many Indians will be able to get job here in US 🙂
Sam, would you like to buy a can of Soda for $10? Just to see if it tastes better than Dr. Pepper?
hmm, I didnt get the meaning of your reply. So, I wont be able to provide feedback to it.
My point was… Price (a.k.a. salary) cannot be ignored in this equation. Yes in utopia where resources are infinite, us Indians with “sub-par” skill-sets might not be hired. But in such a world, us Indians would probably not work at all since all their needs would be met (its utopia afterall).
The wage one gets is based on what do you… not what you can do, what you know, what you might do, or what you’ve done in the past. If I were an employer who had a choice to hire a cheaper mediocre Indian to do simple coding, I wouldn’t approach big guns such as yourself as you would be too expensive for me, and you wouldn’t like the work I have for you. In India we have a saying – Cheetiyo ko maarne haathi zaroori nahi (lit. No need to bring in elephants to crush ants)
Sorry to say but I have American friends here and I notice that all my indian friends are earning more than Americans.
Hi,
I am an Indian and working at USA since 6 years on H1B.
I totally do not agree with comments from American Dream.
First of all, its not like everyone is crazy to work at USA. Forget about that rule.
The purpose of most of us working here is to get good international exposure.
and most of the times its like you don’t want to move your life too much so you just continue working.
Its not only USA, I have also worked in Europe.
And about the price comparison is totally wrong.
I assumed that looking at average salary in India and cost of living in India and same for USA, here is the correct comparison. Don’t forget that even in India, IT guys are having very decent salaries. Assuming USA average salary is 4000$ p.m., In India average IT guy salary is Rs. 1,20,000 p.m.
1. A laptop computer: US – 1 week’s pay, India – 1.5 weeks pay
2. McD’s $-menu (or “wadapav” in India): US – 2 minutes’ pay, India – 2 minutes’ pay
3. A Honda Civic: US – 4.5 months pay, 1 years pay
4. A 1500 sq-ft suburban house (or condo in India): This totally depends upon location.
And again, working on H1B is never in favor for H1B worker. Whatever he works, more than 50% are taken by his employer only. Most of the time, we have to work as consultant where your employer takes major part of money. H1B rules definitely needs to be lighten up and in favor of actually working person, not for the companies. There are lot many disadvantages like visa stamping, you are staying away from your family etc. Rules needs to be changed. Even Canada also introduced new program where relative of person staying at Canada can come and visit them for long time.
Average
Average salary in Indian IT company is RS1,2o,000?? No way.. May be you were born with a silver spoon in mouth in a royal family. What ‘American Dream’ is talking about is the situation apt for most H1-B visa seekers.
Hello everyone!!
I am posting this again as I am aware that many of us want this to happen.
People have started petitions to urge the US government to increase the H1-B visa quotas for this year before October 2013 so that talented people whose name did not come in the work visa lottery in the month of April this year are not forced to quit their jobs and leave the country. Here is the link to the petition: http://www.petition2congress.com/9773/increase-h1b-visas-quota-fy-2014-cap-season/
I hope most of you will sign it as well as promote it so that we can get as many petitions as possible. Also, I sincerely hope this happens before October 1st this year.
Best Regards,
Rj
Hi All,
Is there any work permit provision for H4 Visa holders in this immigration reform ?
The bill has proposed employement to H4 whose GC is pending, but it is only for people from countries where they have similar provision for dependents. I guess India does not allow this?
oops !! so pointless for H4 folks to follow this reform
imsengr,
Even I thought so until someone pointed to an amendment introduced in the bill to remove replication clause. I am not 100% sure, but I think the current version allows dependents to work w/o requiring India to do the same.
Correct!! There is an amendment to allow H4 to get work permit though the originating country does not allow.
Please see the link below.
http://www.murthy.com/2013/05/31/proposed-immigration-reform-bill-may-2013-update/
Saurabh, Waitingtowork!!,
Sorry for the extremely late response, but this is good news!
News Alert!!!
The amendment to strengthen border security has passed Senate in a 67-27 vote. It will help in getting more Republican support in both Senate and House. Final vote on the immigration bill still needs to happen.
Posted incorrect message earlier. Sorry!
Read somewhere the final vote on Immigration bill is on Thursday. Excited!!!
Thank you for the update!
Final vote may not happen so soon, and bill may need some finalization on some detials, but hopefully it could pass by end of summer.
Read somewhere that the gang of eight wants to have the senate vote before the session breaks on July 4th. So there is certainly a sense of urgency…
NoLotterResultYet,
You may be referring to the final vote in the Senate. They plan to put it to vote before July 4th break. House is where the real fight is.
Vote of cloture for the bill in senate @ 5.30 pm Monday. All the best peeps…
Will there be an opportunity for people whose application did not get picked up in lottery this year??
Riya,
If it is signed by the President into law before Oct 1, then additional seats will open up for the current cap. People who didn’t make through current lottery or those who haven’t applied at all, can again apply in those new slots.
Thanks very much Saurabh!!!
316 million US citizen security and 11 million illegal immigrants’ life and millions of US job seekers life and Thousands of Indian based companies life is depends on this new immigration reforms.
Hello everyone!!
Owing to recent developments in the immigration overhaul I want to highlight the current situation of legal immigrants who have suffered greatly because of the 2013 H1-B (work visas) lottery system. People have started petitions to urge the US government to increase the H1-B visa quotas for this year before October 2013 so that talented people whose name did not come in the work visa lottery in the month of April this year are not forced to quit their jobs and leave the country. Here is the link to the petition: http://www.petition2congress.com/9773/increase-h1b-visas-quota-fy-2014-cap-season/
IF ANY OF YOU CARE THEN I URGE YOU TO SIGN THIS PETITION !!
Currently, people are discussing about improving situation of people who illegally entered the country but for people like me who entered US legally to study Aerospace Engineering and work in aviation world, there situation has been ignored. Legally entered people like myself who studied one of the STEM degrees would be forced to quit our job and leave the US. My employer is deeply saddened by this situation and is worried that like this there might me more incidents in future leading to good employees having to leave work in US.
I hope you guys will sign this petition and promote it to get more people to sign it!
Best Regards,
Rj
Is there any provision in the bill for GC process? I mean something like doing away with country based priority date ?
Saurabh – Looking at the current happenings…I suppose the bill may be passed before July 4th. If that happens, by when do you think it will come into implementation ? Any ideas?
Please advise.
WaitingtoWork,
Actually, there is very little chance of passing both chambers by 4th July. Senate has just passed it for an active discussion in front of full Senate (the earlier one was in front of the committee). It still needs to pass the Senate and will then move to the other chamber.
It should get a clearance from senate before July 4. Then it has to go through house. Mr. Obama has urged the house to submit the bill to his table before the end of the summer. Lets hope the bill passes somewhere in September .
Got it !! Thanks for clarifying Saurabh and Nolotteryresultyet.
Follow
Hi Saurabh,
Is your post incomplete. May be you wanted us to follow at some other url location. Please complete this post if possible.
If I am missing something pardon me 🙂
Thanks
NoLotteryResultYet,
Its the limitation of the system that I am trying to workaround 🙂
If I want to get notification of posts on this page, I need to subscribe to it and for that I have to make at least one comment. So I just posted “follow” as in “I want to follow this page” 🙂 (poor workaround)
Hope this works out soon and before Oct 1st 2013.
Hi,
Due to my application dint come up in lottery, they have sent it back. There is a news that USICS has increased the visa count or this year. Can anybody tel me that can we reapply again this year or the bill be effective from year 2014?
Your inputs much appreciated!
Refer to my response to the comment just below your post.
hiii
The increase in h1b is applicable for this year ?? can you clarify bese i have already applied and there is no response !!!
pls guide me
Raghu,
It will be from this year only if it signed into a law by Oct 1, 2013. Otherwise it will become applicable from next year or the year after (depending upon when it passes).
They will be giving green cards for Advanced degree holders from US. I assume PhD holders in STEM will get it and Master’s degree holders might have chance. Anyone knows what the process will be to get this “stapled” green cards?
The bill has not even been presented to the Senate for voting. It’s not even a law yet! And you want to know the process!
Haha. Well said.
Always remember nothing comes easy. There are ppl waiting since 6 years to get GC EAD.
It’s not easy to give more than 500k odd STEM grads GC just like that. (Incl those who left states long back)
So stop dreaming and work hard and keep status.
We are not dreaming about this. But knowing what the possibilities could be is a good thing and then you can plan which ways you want to go about to get this green card. If this process is going to take a year or more then it might be irrelevant for some of us who will stand a better chance through the process already in place.
You want to plan your immigration based on legal advice from random strangers on the internet?
it should be a exclamation mark and not a question mark…
You want to plan your immigration based on legal advice from random strangers on the internet!
My Turn Dear Friend… 🙂
It is a question not a statement.
Then you should have started with do like
Do you…. ?
I remember you were teaching grammar to a lot of people in this forum….
Huh? I have a total of maybe 5-6 posts.
OR!
You want to plan your immigration? Based on legal advice from random strangers on the internet?!
😀
You changed the meaning of the sentence.
Maybe maybe not. Its the Schrodinger’s Cat of sentences. Hehe
No. I don’t want to. Just saw this one and was curious about the word “immediately”!
“A green card will be immediately available to foreign students with an advanced degree from a United States institution of higher education in a field of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics, and who possess an offer of employment from a United States employer in a field related to their degree. Foreign students will be permitted to enter the United States with immigrant intent if they are a bona fide student so long as they pursue a full course of study at an institution of higher education in a field of science, technology, engineering or mathematics.”Just read somewhere that they have the word
Interesting link
http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/22/uscis-unions-fake-information-ignored-in-immigration-applications/
Any update for EAD for H4 visa holders in this immigration bill.
I doubt indian spouses can work on h4 ead ifsoevr applicable..
Pls let me know if H4 can start working ???
I don’t think so….
hi, if you get to know any information regarding it, plz share it here. thanks
(1) As of now people on H-4 cannot work.
(2) The S.744 (new immigration bill) proposes EAD for spouses (only spouses) on H-4. Earlier it was based on reciprocity from the sending country. India does not offer work authorization for spouses of people on an employment visa meaning US would reciprocate in the same manner.
(3) Before approving the bill the Senate Judiciary Committee accepted an amendment to strike out the reciprocity requirement but added a clause that upon the request of the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security may suspend employment authorizations to H-4 nationals of a foreign country that does not permit reciprocal employment to nationals of the United States who are accompanying or following to join the employment-based nonimmigrant husband or wife of such spouse to be employed in such foreign country based on that status.
Refer to the amended Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act. Senate Bill S.744 (2013) § 4102.2.
If S.744 § 4102.2 is approved in the present form and the bill is enacted then spouses on H-4 from India stand a chance to get work authorization. Still it could be later suspended unless the Government of India decides to reciprocate.
(This answer is not a substitute for professional legal advice. This answer does not create an attorney-client relationship, nor is it a solicitation to offer legal advice. Seek the advice of a licensed attorney in the appropriate jurisdiction before taking any action that may affect your rights.)
Nice disclaimer…. Are you a lawyer by any chance or have you copied this from somewhere…
This is a standard disclaimer used by attorneys online. I do not have any formal education in law, just read judgements, acts, laws etc. out of interest. Sometimes, I have represented students in front of the university board.
But thanks for the usefull information..
It would be in effect from 2014
Is the H1B cap increased for this year. Many applications are already returned because of not getting selected in the lottery what happens to those. Can we re-apply??
I just can’t believe that they are eliminating cap-exempt visa of US Masters degree of all fields that was limited to 20,000 and increasing it to 25000 only for STEM degree holders. It sucks for non-STEM advance degree holders. Are these senators insane? Why would they remove such things that had been there before for all the Advance degree holders!
Could you please clarify what this means? Your post seemed ambiguous…
the 20,000 for masters degree in the U.S. is being changed to 25,000 for masters degree in STEM only?
So what will happen to people who have Master’s degree in non-STEM fields? Will they be considered to be in the same group as Regular-Quota?
Yes , thats correct non STEM Masters would be included in the regular quota which anyways would be increased …
Changes are certainly good! I just hope they are well executed in reality when they do.
I love that they are progressing towards merit based system. And I would love to know more about the StartUp Visa as that is my eventual intention. Thanks!
I wish they start merit based immigration ASAP. But that’s not the case, they are saying it will start from 2017.
Source: Blogs/Forums
Refer to the amended Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act. Senate Bill S.744 (2013) § 2301.2.
“Beginning with the fifth fiscal year beginning after the date of the enactment of the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, aliens subject to the worldwide level specified in section 201(e) for merit-based immigrants shall be allocated”
Merit based immigration will roll out 5 FY after the bill is enacted.
Refer to the amended Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act. Senate Bill S.744 (2013) § 4802 for INVEST immigrant visa.
Is this true..can’t beleive this..:)