According to USCIS, the ever important H1b visas for highly skilled foreign labor will be suspended for up to 6 months, starting April 3rd. Approximately 70% of H1b visa recipients come from India, gobbling up highly coveted tech jobs in the United States — at discounted rates.
People are speculating this is a precursor to Trump’s revamped immigration policy, placing restrictions on the 85,000 H1b visas issued by the government on an annual basis. Some believe the President will require a much higher minimum wage for recipients, which currently stands at $60,000 per annum. There is a bill hanging in the balance which would increase that amount to over $100,000 — effectively ending the Silicon Valley gravy train or force them to move facilities overseas.
This is bad news for Indian IT firms like $CTSH and $INFY.
If you enjoy the content at iBankCoin, please follow us on TwitterIndian official says H-1B visas bolster jobs 01:31
Premium processing costs an additional $1,225 and ensures a response from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services in 15 days or the fee is refunded. Processing of standard H-1B applications — those that are not premium — takes between three to six months.The visas are doled out by a lottery, and the number of applicants continues to swell each year. Last year, the demand was three times greater than the quota.
Outsourcing firms flood the system with applicants, obtaining visas for foreign workers and then farming them out to tech companies. They take a sizable cut of the salary.
While the visas are used to fill the US skills gap, Trump has spoken out about abuse of the program.
Mount Rushmore needs to make some room.
Fly
The suspension does not affect the visa. It affects the processing time.
The visa application process starts on first day of April , and they cannot work until Oct 1.
hey Fly …so will you be in town Mnday for the PDAC ? you can rub shoulders with the proepstors developers and plebes as they mingle. Since your all a lady gaga over Base metals,Uranium and other things that come out of the ground might be a trip well spent for you. let me know when your in town and we can grab a double double down at timmy’s before we make our way down to the brass rail…….
When this pig isn’t wallowing in mud, he sometimes works as a DBA, so this is actually great news for me. IT wages are kept artificially depressed via H1B visa programs and the like. It’s basically just a hi-tech version of migrant farm workers.
Too bad for hopeful Indians. Nicest guys(and girls) I’ve ever met.
There is no minimum wage. H-1B dependent firms, mostly India firms, must pay at least 60k if the want to replace U.S. workers. That 60k was set in 1998 by congress and has not adjusted for inflation. In most cases, these firms pay above 60k because they have to meet prevailing wages.
Someone thinks what I wrote is fake news so I’ll expand.
H-1B workers must be paid the prevailing wage. There are four levels to the prevailing, and level 3 is the median. Level 1 is entry level. At least 50% of H-1B workers are paid entry level wage. See: http://www.gao.gov/assets/320/314508.html
If you look at prevailing wage levels here: http://www.flcdatacenter.com/ and search outside the east and west coast, you will see prevailing wage levels well below $60,000.
If a dependent h-1b employer (dependent meaning 15% or more of its workforce on temporary visas) there is a category called exempt h-1b worker. See: https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/FactSheet62/whdfs62Q.pdf
The H-1B employer is not required to recruit U.S. workers, unless it is H-1B-dependent https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/FactSheet62/whdfs62Q.pdf
But there a loophole to this rule. An employer who is H-1B dependent can be exempt from hire U.S. worker requirement is that employer pays at least $60,000 or the employee has a master’s degree. https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/FactSheet62/whdfs62Q.pdf
That’s how it works. There is no minimum $60,000 wage for all H-1B employees. That a fiction. But please mark this as fake news, but in this country, being stupid wins
I know for a fact that these visas are being abused to bring in staff to Fortune 500 companies via the Indian outsourcing companies at rates that are > 40% below market value.
The facts are clear – the stated purpose of the H1B is to find the best and the brightest but the visa is instead being abused to find low cost labor.
http://www.cringely.com/2015/06/15/the-h-1b-visa-program-is-a-scam/
My company, a large professional services firm, massively recruits H1-Bs. It is so pervasive I sometimes feel like I am working for an Indian company. They are great people, smart and talented. I have nothing against them, but I also have little doubt they could find American citizens to do the job–I recruit on campus and experienced hires and there is no lack of smart, qualified candidates who want to work here for most positions.
I don’t know if the salary ranges would change at all, but I do expect we’d be hiring a lot more American citizen undergrads.