Time to reevaluate H1B Visas

Not only do we need to scale back, but we must address the fundamental flaw in the H-1b program:
it is perfectly legal for employers to bypass local talent using the H-1b program.

DOL's Strategic Plan, states: "...H-1B workers may be hired even when a qualified U.S. worker wants the job, and a U.S. worker can be displaced from the job in favor of the foreign worker."

Passing the Durbin-Grassley reform bill will do just that. It will require employers to seek local talent for their US job openings before recruiting abroad.

The USCIS report provides hard data for the complaints that H-1bs have: they are forced to pay for visa fees, are offered lower salaries than US professionals, and are unemployed. No wonder they want the program reformed.

But without forcing employers to seek local talent for US job openings, we will always have an oversupply of US technical talent.

This is a problem shared also across our education systems. The fact is that state and federal dollars are being spent to maintain systems that forward corporate interests - not national and state interests. The idea of a free market is good for prosperity in general - but not always good for countries or localities; Gaming the system should have jail time as punishment - the crime is federal in my view. At the end of the day, government's responsibility is to the governed. I think that solid compliance needs to be established... that state universities cater first to state citizens - out-of-state and foreign tuition can rocket and still be a good deal. And jobs can be given only after solid proof of no available citizen workers is publicly established and validated - and, even then, at a still higher premium. There should be a direct cost to employers - without loopholes - that says employment of foreign workers demands a 30% additional ongoing cost distributed to the local and university systems to subsidize citizen education in those wanting areas. The current fees are not enough - and gaming the system needs to encounter large, real teeth. I think it should be built in to the system that (effectively) sending money overseas has a cost. We need it here to grow our economy, not to bolster theirs. This is supposed to be government with the consent of the governed... I submit the government needs to fix itself here bigtime. The tax base is dwindling because of their abdication. The number of jobs and quality of education should grow here and be provided here - to citizens - with prejudice.

"Re-evalutate H1b"?? Are you nuts?

We need to abolish this program.
It is hopelessly corrupt, and
cannot be reformed.

Over 600,000 science and engineering degrees are granted annually from American universities.(1) The US produces only 120,000 science and engineering jobs per year.(2) That leaves 480,000 graduates per year without jobs in their chosen careers. Add to this over 240,000 H-1B visas and an equal number of L-1 visas each year. Half a million Americans are losing their jobs to cheap foreign technical workers every year. Another half million Americans waste their S&E degrees on non-S&E jobs.
SOURCES:
(1) Tabulated by National Science Foundation/Division of Science Resources Statistics (NSF/SRS); data from Department of Education/National Center for Education Statistics: Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System Completions Survey and NSF/SRS: Survey of Earned Doctorates.
nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d07/tables/dt07_267.asp
(2) www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2004/02/art5full.pdf page 83

H-1B and L-1 visas are the Trojan Horse to offshoring of American Jobs.
www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/lou.dobbs.tonight/popups/exporting.america/content.html

I disagree with Judi Hasson's contention that there is something "shocking" about the amount of fraud in the H-1B program. The recent study is nothing new -- for instance in 2004 the the Department of Labor wrote a report titled "Foreign Labor Certification Programs: The System is Broken and Needs to be Fixed". In the 1990's there were numerous other studies that discussed the fraud that takes place. There were even Congressional testimonies.

So, just who is shocked or surprised? Certainly not anyone in our government, or anyone who has basic knowledge of the H-1B program!

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I would like to see hard numbers on this. They say there is fraud, well there is fraud pretty much anywhere, but at what percent rate are we talking about here? 10%? 50%? Are we talking about just about a couple of companies? Or the great majority? 65,000 per year? Are we saying every single one is a fraud?

So, if they found some 20% of applications in the sample were in some way fraudulent, involved fraudulent academic credentials, etc., and since the DoL Inspector General has been writing reports on such abuses since at least the mid-1990s, and people (H-1B holders, displaced US citizens) have testified to such abuses to congressional committees, why is it the congress-critters haven't managed to get 'round to making repairs? Because even more abuse was intentionally built into the system by congress-critters and lobbyists for the Indian government and executives in business and academia. Pelosi, Sessions, Lofgren, Reid, et al. do not want to reform it because that would put a crimp in their campaign contributions, so they vote against US citizens and visa holders every time.

H1b and EB-greencard proponents are always quick to admit some error and fraud occurs and vow to wipe it out---and then move on to emphasize how resident workers lack talent and earnestness, etc., etc., and how we need more guestworkers and skilled immigrants in order to `compete'. . . .

One part of a fix, change the degree requirement to a Masters.

The H1-B program is supposed to cover multiple fields, doctors, actresses, etc, not just high-tech. The H1-B should change it's educational requirement to a Masters degree, that would cut down on a lot of claims that these visa holders are highly educated. A three year degree from an Indian university is the equivalent of a 2 year fast degree program from an outfit equivalent to a tech college in the US, not a Bachelors, and certainly not a Masters.

These visa applicants are supposed to be "exceptional", so make the requirements exceptional.

Of statistical interest from the USCIS publication...

Size of survey = 246 (of possible 96,827)
Fraud rate = 13.4%
Technical violation = 7.3% (benching, underpayment, bodyshop w-o valid LCA etc)

Total Violation rate = 20.7%

(Sample taken from pending petitions between Oct. 1, 2005 and Mar. 31, 2006 mostly continuing employment petitions)

Education Level violation rate:
Bachelors Degrees = 31% (sample 106)
Graduate Degrees = 13% (sample 140)

Highest Violation rates by occupation:

Accounting, Human Resources,
Business Analysts, Sales, Advertising = 42% (sample 26)

Managerial = 33% (sample 9)

Art = 29% (sample 7)

Computer professionals = 27% (sample 104)

Medicine Health = 10% (sample 10)

No single country had a participation rate high enough to create a statistically valid violation rate except India (46% of sample). This 25% violation rate was not much higher than the avg violation rate of 20.7%.

Born in India
Violation rate = 25% (sample 114)

H-1B Benefit Fraud & Compliance Assessment
//grassley.senate.gov/private/upload/100820081-3.pdf

The DOL list of H-1B willful violators.
www.dol.gov/esa/whd/immigration/H1BWillfulViolator.htm

H-1B anti-fraud fee is $500.00 each.

H1-B is a great example of big government interference. If there was a shortage of skilled workers then scarcity would set in and that would force competition for the last worker available. That would increase wages and that would attract either more people to enter Math and CS courses (which would increase the available course as well) AND/OR it would encourage better management of existing resources and tools. But government interference, H1-B, has disrupted the natural market forces. So wages have not kept up, kids do not enter CS or Math, and colleges are not expanding access because there is no demand! The markets work if corporations/lobbiest/federal government would let them work.

There are lot of flaws in H1B visa program. It is evident that employers are using this tool for their own in a wrong way. So called staffing companies normally take money from the candidates to process H1B and they also guide candidates to commit fraud. Since employers have total control over H1B, abusing is involved in almost every case. Once candidates has arrived in US, these companies make them sign harsh agreements. The candidates dont have any choice to stay with the employer as they have already given a lot of money and left their jobs in their country.
Nowadays talented people avoid to come to US as they dont want go through this nightmare.
So this program has lost its purpose.
1)It is not bringing real talent to America.
2)American workers jobs are in trouble.
3)People coming to America under this program are also not happy

There is no control on companies. I did my degree from one of top ranking college and worked in best companies in India. I caught up in last slow down. I had more then 15 years of experience in previous companies still my green card was filed in EB-3 category (require 2 years of experience) instead of EB-2 category. I had to stay in US as going back to India had affected my children's education. When I raised objection, my meager pay was stopped and I was threatened that green card application will not be filed. Getting new job was not possible as I was completing 5 years on H1 visa. I NOW NEVER SUGGEST ANY IN MY FAMILY TO COME AND EXPERIENCE AMERICAN NIGHTMARE. It is Oct 18, 2008 today; I have completed 9 years in USA still it will take 3-4 years to get green card. I am better then illegal immigrant. If you do fraud (pay for processing pay roll) you get green card in minimum possible time. My employer did it. The people who did not use computer in previous life became green card holder in 3 to 5 years. Courtesy Immigration laws and tech lobby.

Reform is not the answer- abolition and accelerated expiration is! The preponderence of fraud and the resulting economic impact to Americans justify such action. The decrease in the labor pool will speed the eventual recovery. And it will add to our security by decreasing the numbers of immigrants from areas that are just now being seen to be just as dangerous from the standpoint of terrorism.

One rotten apple in a bagful of apples does not make the whole bag bad. True there have been one odd cases of fraud occassionally, but on balance or more, and to a ~ 98% level (in my view), america has benfited more with the H1 B and other non immigrant and immigrant visa programs. One should try nderstand why Bill gates/ Microsoft/ Googles etc plead so much for the case. The irony of immigation considering that it is such an emotional subject in USA, issues of illegal migrants and hi tech workers, seems to get fully overlapped and fiction merges with fact... Wake up guys and dont keep saying cheap labor - america is known to promote enterprsie and market rates always prevail, else value migrates again (and again....) - these things are best left to free market enterprise, and ofcourse with in the confines of legal accuracy...

I find these comments insulting. Talented people are willingly coming to the United States, and engaging in the economy. Each foreign worker who makes money here also spends it on clothes, food, rent, and electronics. As an employer, I know the reason so many "poor, helpless American workers" are not hired is because, frankly, they suck. Unprofessional, unintelligent, and unwilling to compete. Thank God that some intelligent, educated foreign citizens still think that America is a good place for them to work, or else this entire country would go to shambles.

sure, some ppl abuse it. so yeah it needs reform to plug these holes

but those advocating for shutting it down are naive and dont understand the full picture.. many H1Bs contribute to the economy. they pay social security and if they dont get greencard, goodbye to that money.. they pay taxes, contribute to economy. in fact some of the H1B who get green card, have started companies in silicon valley.. so its not a bad program, but gov obviously needs to fix the loopholes

in reply to weaver stats:
so the Indian H1B applicants, because they are the highest fraudsters, shame the rest of the pool, a lot of whom are actually earning REAL degrees in American universities, REAL credential doing internships in American companies, and filling REAL lack of skills in some key areas such as scientific research, teaching or medicine.
I say: there should be a cap per country, just as for the Green Card lottery!

This H1 B visa sponsorship is itself a fraud. both the employer and the USA govt. are hand in hand to cheat innocent people from a different country.

They sponsor H1 for people saying that there are skill shortage and there is USA Govt. agency that approves their sponsor.

They are brought on board and they are laid off? saying that recession, financial crisis.

This whole process is a fraud. and also people have been cheated

We have great talent in American its just that the companies are greedy and they rather hire folks from India for less money and at the end they do not performed a good job and half of the time we can't understand them. Its bad business if you ask me. They should get rid of H1B Visa or re-evaluate it where its not taking our jobs especially in this downturn economy, we shouldn't be competing with foreigners for jobs, they should go back home if they have been laid off, its only fair.

Wow - it's amazing isn't it? The abuse of the system has been underway for something like a decade now, and only now are people waking up? I assure you that the American software developers who have gotten the brunt end of the stick during the past years are already well-aware of the abuses. They are the ones who have been laid off and refused work ever since the dot-com bust. Oh, and in the meantime, younger Americans have caught on that their job prospects aren't strong in the field - they have decided not to go into Computer Science.

Bravo America! This globalization trek has been a real winner, eh?

This all reminds me of what the US did with our auto industry ... it was our brain child and we gave it to the Japanese. This devastated the US economy, and Detroit never recovered.

The software industry was America's brainchild, and we're handing it over to the Indians.
This is now part of the devastation of American's economy.

When will America's leaders wake up and look at America's economy systemically, rather than bottom line profit per company -- We need to see the FOREST before the TREES.

I remember having a small but thriving Oracle software consulting company back in the 90's. Then they "upped" the number of H1B VISAS that were allowed (Thanks Mr. Clinton). I also remember the shell companies that were set up to bring over Indians. The shell companies would rent apartments, and pack in 8-10 people while selling their skills at 30-40 an hour less then we could offer. These shell companies worked in quantity, not quality. We used to joke that every airplane from India to America went through the time tunnel...as the resumes magically gained extensive experience and additional degrees while the plane was in the air. Well, my little company is gone, (just could not compete at $25 an hour), and I have been paying back taxes to Uncle Sam on a payment plan for about 7 years now. maybe someday I will be back to square zero.....H1B VISAS? Full of fraud and abuse, and now, with the high number of Americans on the pavement, it's time to reduce or eliminate the program. NOW.

H1-B gets the guillotine again.
Strange how lawmakers are thumping their chests by kicking out H1B - all of whom are accountable and assets to the US economy. This is the easy way out - they know they can't do ANYTHING about the millions of illegals who are NOT accountable and cannot be "deported" to give a favorable report to the masses that the lawmakers are doing their bit to conserve local jobs.

H1-Bs are educated, answerable masses. And they're relatively too small a number to cry havoc about. Don't kill the golden goose

Yes the h1b Visa program is a scam. It will be hard to stop while the politicians are on the take from the software companies and banks.

Yes, your tax $ are going to banks that hire H1b's over Americans.

Businesses are more to blame than the ineptitude of Congress do bring reform here.If we abolish the whole H1B program altogether,the bottom line(profit) will be affected and companies will offshore more of their activities.This does not bode well for US enterprise and innovation in the long run.
If the quality of work from an H1B worker is "horrible",I am sure companies will weed them out or kick em out.If you run your business wouldn't you do the same to be competetive.
I say bring balance to the program,reform the fraudulent activities.And if H1B visa holder loses their job and one cannot find a job within the stipulated timeframe,do send em back.But the act of hiring a US citizen before a H1B worker is purely ethical and businesses who only look for profits might not feel the same way as its citizens do.

reform h1 and l1 visas
result-companies stop hiring them,instead of hiring Americans they offshore all the work.
next stop off-shoring
result-companies will start their bases in other countries to sustain market
finally there wont be any company in us to hire Americans .
" hard working "Americans happy!!!

Kids are just being smart not getting technical and/or engineering degrees. Engineering is a poor profession. You work a few years on a contract and then are let go. You spend a few months finding another contract, work a year or so and are let go. Much better off being a carpenter, plumber, or HVAC tech.

Yes, yes, yes, Pasha duba biba - so happy to be here in america and steal your job. so happy to not be in my shit hole bangalore. u keep let me steal american job, no bibesh mushesk.