Congress set to make the H-1B visa less costly for India
Source: IT World
Congress is set to drop a $2,000 H-1B visa fee mostly paid by India-based IT services providers. It's a move being met with incredulity by H-1B critics, but relief by the Indian offshore industry.
The fee, adopted in 2010, was sought by U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who chaired the Senate immigration subcommittee when Democrats were in power. Schumer described the overseas firms as "multinational temp agencies" that undercut U.S. wages.
The fee expires on Oct. 1, the start of the new fiscal year and there's is no immediate effort in Congress to extend it. The fee raises between $70 million and $80 million annually for the U.S., according to an Indian industry trade group. The money initially went to improve border security, but is now used to help pay the medical needs of 9/11 first responders.
Russ Harrison, director of government relations of the engineering association IEEE-USA, said eliminating the fee makes no sense, particularly after lawmakers in both parties have expressed outrage over the use of H-1B workers in recent layoffs.
Read more: http://www.itworld.com/article/2985266/it-management/congress-set-to-make-the-h-1b-visa-less-costly-for-india.html?google_editors_picks=true
valerief
(53,235 posts)TM99
(8,352 posts)India is not charged a fee for H-1B's that flood our markets and take IT jobs that should go to Americans.
AND
The money that was being raised was for medical needs of 9/11 first responders. Where will the money come from now? Will there be any money now for them? Maybe Clinton can get on that with a powerful Tweet.
antigop
(12,778 posts)http://www.forbes.com/sites/kerryadolan/2014/04/08/hillary-clinton-comes-to-san-francisco-talks-tech-immigration-and-whether-shell-run-for-office/
....
Asked by Marketos Fernandez about how she would deal with the shortage of H-1B visas, which tech companies rely in to bring in non-U.S. workers such as computer engineers, she suggested thinking longer term and working with colleges using cash from Silicon Valley to train people in the U.S. to fill those jobs, while in the shorter term pressing for more H-1B visas.
antigop
(12,778 posts)Thor_MN
(11,843 posts)I've seen so many H-1B visa workers with puffed up resumes... There are some that are very good, but others that are unable to code at all. I've had to code several projects on a rush basis where the initial attempt by a foreign coder had to be totally scrapped. Fortunately, I now work for a company that does not believe in H1-B visas.
NCjack
(10,279 posts)d_legendary1
(2,586 posts)And in other news IT Tech Companies stocks and profits soar to new levels thanks to government subsidies and tax breaks.
In related news unemployment in the IT sector has gone up considerably. The cause is unkown though some speculate that illegal immigrants from Mexico are to blame.
TexasMommaWithAHat
(3,212 posts)/sarcasm
Android3.14
(5,402 posts)I'll bet we see her "evolve" on this issue too since the new policy goes into effect before the election.
AzDar
(14,023 posts)SoapBox
(18,791 posts)OhioChick
(23,218 posts)MisterP
(23,730 posts)metalbot
(1,058 posts)The H1-B visa system is currently done via lottery, which effectively encourages companies to enter as many low wage candidates as they possibly can.
Oddly enough, this is a situation where the market of supply and demand suggests a very reasonable solution:
Allow companies to BID for H1B visas. Cap the number of visas, and sell them to the highest bidder. That way, companies like Microsoft and Amazon who really, really want that one particularly skilled foreign worker can pay him $200k and be sure to get him, while not putting wage pressures on American jobs. It completely takes away the "there are not enough engineers", and then forces companies to say "there are not enough engineers willing to take the salary I'm willing to pay".
Jerry442
(1,265 posts)That's a slippery slope. Next thing you know, folks will be wanting them to comply with actual statutes too. Where will it all end?
Lychee2
(405 posts)It's now illegal in California to prefer US citizens over undocumented workers in hiring.
The FEHA (California Fair Employment and Housing Act) prohibits employers from discriminating against people for protected characteristics, such as race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, religion, and others. Here, AB 1660 adds a subsection to the definitions of certain terms of the FEHA to provide expressly that national origin discrimination includes discrimination on the basis of the employee possessing a drivers license even if that person is not legally authorized to be in the United States.
- See more at: http://www.natlawreview.com/article/catch-22-employers-california-governor-signs-bill-prohibiting-discrimination-based-d#sthash.IwsTUuvb.dpuf
This has the same effect on US blue collar workers as H1b visas have on US geeks.
Alkene
(752 posts)Time to start bogarting some tent space in the brambles out behind the food bank.