Public opinion on H-1B visa reform is deeply polarized, with many American commenters expressing frustration over job security and perceptions that the system favors foreign workers at the expense of locals. While some comments celebrate potential reforms and a return of skilled workers to India, the overarching sentiment is critical, highlighting exploitation and a broken system. A significant desire for stricter regulations and protection for American jobs is evident, but there are also voices advocating for a more open approach to global talent.

U.S. Government

Tech Companies

H-1B Visa Holders

To answer your question, yes there are Americans who want the program gone. It’s not just the initial visas granted but the renewals, plus OPT, TN and other programs.

Personally I would be happy if the consultancies who pay low wages could no longer use the program.

Salty_Permit4437

I was looking at United Airlines ( a big National airline carrier mind you) tech jobs and could barely find a role that’s based in the US. Most of them are based in India. I think H1B visa has always been so challenging to even get for companies , so most actually already dont want to sponsor. But you’d be fooled to think that making H1B more difficult to get would incentivize companies to hire Americans. They’re offshoring people instead

cza1100

I have no problem with people coming here on any kind of visa. What is unacceptable is the way US companies use these programs as a way to lay off and lower wages of Americans. I think most Americans blame the system rather than the people.

It is unfortunate that potential new Americans that only want a better life are getting caught in the crossfire.

saintex422

It is not as bad as massive outsourcing to India in my opinion. I'm struggling to find any job in SRE/DevOps/Cloud infrastructure for the last 2 years that is not equity-only and I blame offshoring/outsourcing.

EastClevelandBest

It’s complicated.

“Blaming immigrants” is easy and appeals to our more resentful and disenfranchised segments of society….

Having a balanced conversation that includes end-stage capitalism, fall of empire, off-shoring, mechanization, helicopter parenting, less accessible quality education, skyrocketing cost of higher-ed and punishing teachers/professors for the parents/students’ failing to keep up their part…. Well, that is hard.

todaysthrowaway0110

If H1b goes away, then outsourcing will expedite. That’s all.

Public_Advisor_4660

To the employers, if you don’t meet their expectations, they won’t pull the trigger. If not H1B, jobs can still be out sourced directly to other countries. The same people will get the job but working in different countries. 
Good luck out smart the capitalists. H1B, at least, retains see tax and service jobs on shore.

IQ4EQ

[deleted]

Back in the day, US didnt have many graduates and skilled workers. They needed them and H1B was used for it. Now there are more college graduates and skilled workers and there isnt a real need for H1B. Its the big corporates greed that's keeping H1B alive.

May be H1B will be revised for the real Niche and brilliant ones (Real specialization) as opposed to developers, managers, BA &amp; Testers.

machisman

This is just a case of people blaming immigrants for the side effects of the internal contradictions of capitalism.

redditasaservice

 The H-1B Visa Program lost its purpose. Too many see it as a mean to start a new life in the US when that's not its purpose. The purpose of H1B is to hire talents that we don't have. We have now too many talents. The job market is changing. All repercussions go beyond the H1B scope.   
  
The current trend is to hire local contractors, low pay, no benefits, no visa required, or to replace employees with robots and AI. It's hard to find a job in Tech and biotech. We don't need to test nuclear bombs. AI can now simulate everything without exploding a real bomb. AI can now predict if someone is going to have a cancer using MRI scans. Even Mc Donald is pushing us to use digital self-service kiosks and apps to order.  Abroad, some hotels have already replace their front desk with single robots that can speak more than 40 languages thanks to AI, or allowing self-serve checking. We have robots that can serve drinks. If local contractors are still too expensive, and  some jobs can't be automated, they may be outsourced. All Federal cuts can just accelerate this trend.  
  
GenZ have already started to feel these gloomy days. This will de facto impact all costly H1B programs. It's going to be very hard to justify a H1B when too many graduates are unemployed and can't even become a contractor.

Ok-Delay5473

They just hate foreigners. 85k H1B visas per year won’t lead to 58% struggling.

ugurcanevci

Do Company's care about candidate's nationality or visa?


They want their job needs to be done in lowest possible cost and with best talent.


If they remove this visa. They will hire candidates from overseas working remote. They only want top talent in less money.

CollegeMurky3151

Definitely yes.  Especially in the tech sector.  They see them and their coworkers getting fired.  Only to be replaced by H-1B visa holders for much much less pay.  The program is insidious because it chains the worker to the company and they have to put up with a lot of crap aside from the bad pay.  While at the same time making it basically impossible for US based workers to get rehired without going super low on pay as well.

rleon19

Unfortunately what those Z geners opine as to H1B visas is based on misinformation. H1B visas are very hard to attain. They are structured to avoid displacing Americans and LPRs from losing job opportunities and they solve employment voids that further strengthen other jobs and businesses in the U.S. More importantly it is a huge hedge in drawing talent from overseas into the U.S. that would otherwise compete and lower costs (presumably) vs. U.S. workers.

234W44

i am annindian. and yes. i want it to be stream lined. 

especially... h4 ead

Euphoric_Court_6037

I think there are a lot of people who would like the program updated to prevent the way it’s currently abused. If all they did was move from a lottery to a system where the highest salary offers get the visas it would fix most of the concerns.

whack-a-mole

Missing the forest for the trees big time. Specific organizations and professions should have a different work visa program and other professions should utilize the H1b system. 

Also, bold of OP to assume that only Americans and people from India have a stake in H1bs... considering people from other countries (including me as a Canadian) have to use H1b as well...

Mediocre-Dog-4457

The numbers don’t add up and don’t support the argument. It is a just a temporary distraction to keep blame away from the current totally avoidable economic crisis. The supporters are trying very hard to ensure the blame does not reach him and they can as usual blame others.

anex_stormrider

Tech worker here, H1B doesn’t necessarily impact my line of work as much as it does the folks I work with (SWEs). I have yet to meet someone who’s an H1B worker that’s made it to product. 

I don’t believe H1B is the issue but rather agencies. Low-balling workers from other countries and then charging the companies to fill contract roles at 1.5X an FTE price.

FamiliarMaybe5795

Click bait surveys and click bait news. 


Congress needs to pass a bill to change anything. 


Wind down your own click bait consumption (my advice). 

furry_4_legged

Any companies that does layoffs should also have all H1B1 revoked and can’t apply for 2 years. Look at what Microsoft did.

torck82

Make H1B companies pay market rate salaries and then hit the company doing the hiring with 25% taxes on top of those market rate salaries to go towards US employee reskilling and I bet H1B goes away on its own.

CarefulMess7699

WesternLegitimate634

I look this problem as a "tech only" issue, since none of the comment talk about traditional engineering jobs in mechanical, automotive or chemical engineering or civil engineering. There is a tough time to find people in these jobs.

Either a huge chunk of people chose to get a degree in these field where the balance of supply and demand got shattered or a next technology is replacing people just like it did to many auto workers when robots arrived and started building or welding cars. So the advent of AI may be the reason tech industry may not want entry level folks. 

A case study or research on "balance of industry and job" needs to be done.

Rising_Maratha

They want H1Bs gone but are rioting against ICE to stop deporting illegal immigrants who crossed the border.

Lazy_Independent_860

They number of H1Bs stack year over year. And it has way more of an impact than jobs alone.

It impacts housing/rent availability and costs. Local resources like medical services, etc. And the social and cultural cohesion of cities.

For example in my city, foreign immigrant population has exploded in the last 10 years. When there is such a fast influx, and people don't make effort to integrate and assimilate, it's conflicting. It pushes out the local population to the city outskirts because they can't compete with increasing prices of everything. 

In a sense, I feel many natives are upset especially when it feels like the people coming in on H1B are just coming in for the fat paycheck, and don't really care about becoming truly a part of the country and it's people, culture, language, etc. it starts to feel like invasion.

rgb-uwu

Indians != h1bs. Fix your premise then debate

Boring-Addendum-1500

The core MAGA, yes. This will come into play in FY26 and FY27. Why? They just cut several billion jobs in several Medicare programs, and this is the worst market for new grads in decades. Since AI is taking over a lot of functions, Several states have model schools that have implementation programs for big corporations, such as finance, IT, accounting, and health ( Nursing ). It is cheaper for them as they can work with public sector schools and private schools. So yes, our public system is weak in some states.  However, more school systems are doing partnerships with big corporations. Thirdly, more and more H-1B going to TikTok, saying we're getting paid over six figures and calling Americans lazy and fat, does not help your cause. If you are here, CONGRATS!! Enjoy the benefits while you can, as immigration law has changed and will continue to change. A lot of minority Americans who work low-income jobs are pointed out to their white counterparts- hey, we work low-income and blue-collar jobs. "Shandeep is taking your children's jobs who have graduated with a Master's/Bachelor's and several certifications. Should your children have that job?" Even the KKK MAGA are putting their eyes on you now, after they realized they need Pedro/Maria on their farms.

Such-Departure3123

Lol- in 2022 companies were hiring left right and center and paying record salaries and suddenly in 2 years (after addition of at max 170k H1Bs), how did it change to we have too many H1Bs lol.

FreshEffort9259

Limit H1-B only to US graduates (Bachelor/Master/Doctorates) there are plenty of Intl students.

vbeachcomber

The issue with H1Bs is that ~75% or so of those visas go to Indians, and most of those Indians work for worse conditions in outsourcing companies.
This doesn’t do any good to anyone.

Now the practice of paying peanuts to these guys is so prevalent that these companies only want Indians in order for they business model to survive, which in turn creates an incentive to keep paying peanuts and looking for Indians to do the job.

These outsourcing companies have really bad practices and are addicted to cheap Indian labor. People in the US associate H1Bs with these profiles and don’t like that, hence the rejection of the H1B program in general.

But outside of those outsourcing companies, the H1Bs that are on the states are not like that and are just like any other American worker.

IamMamerto

I get it but my H1B job is only in the US because my company asked me to come and we thought it would be good for the family to reduce travel and time away. 

I have 15yrs of experience 9 of which was consulting with my current employer before I moved 2 years ago. 

If they got rid of the H1B no big deal I’d go back to my native country (UK) and work again from there. 

The IRS would lose out on my considerable taxes and my company goes back to paying for me to fly and put me up 10+ times a year

Accomplished_Ruin133

yes the program should be drastically reduced. Very few of the jobs cannot be done by Americans. Tech companies pay a lot of these visa workers 20-30% less than native born workers.

Fun-Motor-8678

The entire immigration system needs gutting and reform. Corporations should not be allowed to decide who lives here. Some form of voucher system would be much better. But in my opinion immigration should be entirely halted for at least a period of 10 years.

Ill_Ad7351

The biggest problem today is not H1B, is the OPT.  Entry level jobs are gone due to AI and Americans are struggling to find jobs.

H1B is also over abused, companies lay off workers but hires h1bs

Fun-Conversation-634

Name any country and ask if there are “some” who don’t want immigration. The answer will always be yes. There is usually (would say always but might be an edge case) a nonzero number of people even if small.

career_expat

There are very few Americans in Information Tech in US universities  Most are international students H1b is primarily in information technology mostly want experience in specialized fields in IT No fresher from abroad can get H1B visa so even if H1B visa is eliminated it won't help US fresh grady

tigrs999

It’s not some. It’s almost everyone who understands the program, and it’s everyone who understands how it is used. 

We have no need as a country for H1B system engineers or network engineers or even software developers. We have many Americans with those skills who are looking for work. A company just laid off thousands of workers and immediately applied for more H1Bs. It has outlived its usefulness. It’s a low cost labor exploit by companies. And it hurts Americans. 

And before I get attacked: I work in IT. I was around before the H1B started. I’ve seen the evolution. And I’m a hardcore liberal.

RazzmatazzSea3227

We all want it gone. We are now having to compete against the entire planet for jobs in our country.

Fractal_Workshop

Yes, as an American it’s bs that we give American companies such a giant tax cut then they go and hire foreigners for half the wages. Plus they don’t let the H1Bs work remote so they have to live in America which raises housing costs, food costs, education for their kids, etc

Limp_Airport6414

Visa program is getting criticism from all sides.

p0st_master

H1B is supposed to be used only if qualified Americans aren't available. It's misused to hire at lower wages when there are qualified Americans 

Emotional_Bonus_934

Gaajizard

I think what most at least in the tech world are upset about is how hard it is to currently find a job in tech. H1B is supposed to be for when the company doesn’t have anyone in America to feel a specialized field of employment. Yet while there are mass layoffs happening and people are struggling to find work, H1B’s are still being utilized.

With how things are now, I believe that outsourcing and h1b’s at least for general software engineering need to be stopped. There’s just too many in this field that are American that can’t find work, why is h1b being considered at that point?

Settaz1

STEM OPT should be eliminated immediately. That was a stop gap measure to allow the US workforce time to educate more STEM students, which has happened. H1B's should be cut dramatically given the economy right now, with strict oversight to monitor companies' advertising and hiring practices. Indian staffing agencies should be banned. J1 staffing agencies should be regulated more closely. All this is long overdue. Everyone knows it. 

statslady23

h4 ead is the main culprit. too much abuse inbh4 ead. about time this kitchen to ba/qa/scrum master shit be stopped

there is ONE solution to fix employment issue. revoke h4 eas

H4 EAD is the reason for many Americans to be jobless. Since it’s doesnot need sponsorship companies are replacing Americans with this. H4 EAD has to be stopped immediately

Ani23454

MAGA is dumb AF since immigrants with H1B visas are the only reason why we have big internet companies in America!

my626ninja

It's understandable. When a recent graduate is struggling to find an *entry level* job and getting passed over for an h1b worker, then something is wrong. The H1B program is meant to fill advanced specialist jobs, not junior or mid level jobs.

jerwong

Indian turned American viewpoint(don't care about downvotes):

1.Back in 1997-1998 when I came to USA, yes there was a skill shortage and in fact at one times number of H-1B visa were around 3X what it is now. But now, I definitely don't think that there is any shortage of skilled labor in USA, Western Europe or Australia/NZ or any other place - at least what I know(and my friends in other places told me). And trust me it's not one Indian who doesn't like another Indian syndrome at all.  Many Asians who came around at that time, their kids are out of college and in CS - ready to take on all the positions which are available. Yes, it is getting difficult for them to get jobs(and I am not some protectionist).

2. How many of Asian Indians will go out of India if opportunities in India are good enough and Indian currency is not devalued? Back in 1997-1998-it was $1=$42 or so but now almost double.

3. Till how long Indians will only do service industry kind of work with so much dependency outside of India(on USA, Western Europe or Australia/NZ etc..)? Why not demand from Indian IT? Why not some Product companies from India?

4. Another issue that I often hear from my grown up nieces and nephews etc...is that folks who go to USA on H-1B visa(and not getting green card etc...) they are spoiling Indian real estate market and create imbalance. Once these folks reach USA or some other onsite(they all of a sudden start having superiority complex and bossy). May be they not getting opportunities or jealousy or whatever factor, they also feel these onsite opportunities should stop.

5. According to me, most folks who are coming to USA for masters, if this 20K quota for H-1B is removed - may be they won't come. If the STEM/OPT is removed may be they won't come to USA. Those folks are more interested to do a job in USA and definitely not interested in higher studies(there may some 10% exceptions).

6. Many H-1B might argue that H-1B is not paid lower. But what they are failing to understand, H-1Bs has made the bar lower. If there is any workplace discrimination or abuse, H-1B person never speaks due to the very fear factor of losing the status(plus job) or that's what they would have been told(may be). Slowly and slowly - all the places, where employers started hiring H-1B - there are reduced benefits(no office gym etc.., worse medical insurance, less PTO etc...), more number of working hours(bad work life balance). So it's not just the total pay or hourly rates one need to talk. Overall working conditions for US workers has gone bad.

7. Good number of my American coworkers often complaint that once an Indian boss arrives, he/she start hiring from their own region(or friend circle)-merit is not considered. 

H-1B visa program is there since 1990(35 years). It's high time, it become based on merit(no more lottery) and only the brightest one come here(Desi consultancies and big Corporations who are gaming it-are banned for few decades) and overall limit the number of H-1B visa - may be just 25K or 30K.

Outsourcing, visa and AI-all are killing real American jobs.

Due_Snow_3302

Generally, the H1-B program is abused by low-quality body shops like TCS, Cognizant, Infosys, etc. and visa spammers like Amazon, Microsoft, Google, etc. Additionally, Indians are grossly over-represented across all working visa classes because of the sheer number of lottery applicants. The woefully needed reform is to 1) choke off the supply of marginally-skilled, low-wage immigrants to these visa squatters and 2) re-balance representation across all geographies and nationalities. 

In summary, if you're of mediocre talent, the visa program is about to become near-impossible for you. Only send your absolute best. The rest, stay home and be a part of building your own country.

jimmy-the-jimbob

The economics are simple. If one increases the supply of a commodity, one decreases its price. In this case, the commodity is labor power, and the state is advancing Capital's interest in reducing the cost and mobility of the labor power Capital requires by increasing the supply from overseas and constraining the mobility of the imported labor power. So, yes, the visa program is really the issue.

CraigMcMurtry

Lol, if they remove H-1B, no immigrants—especially Indians and Chinese—will come here to study. They’re already getting better education in their home countries. Everything is doomed in the United States. I know so many super talented people who aren’t getting interviews just because they need visa sponsorship. I want they stop H1b and see what happens to this country.

jatanparikh

There are two problems for USC/ GCs in USA. 
#1.  The low cost / rate of outsourced labor is a killer. There is no way the onshore labor can compete with offshore rates. 
#2.  The number of onshore *technical* resources ( people) available now is short by about 500,000 - 1 million.  It is going to get worse in the next two years. 

The ratio of non-h1B to H1B is too low.  It’s like 1:40. One of the reasons is many USC kids ( born in USA) don’t like CS major.  

All said and done, private companies are going to promote 1) offshore labor, 2) promote H1B before they have any vest and encourage 3) onshore resources.  

Bottom line — the voice/rattle against H1B is noise. For now.

Ok-Vegetable-6355

For over a decade now, H1B LCA filings are moving into higher wage tiers with very few remaining in level 1. So this wouldn't matter much. It will still hit the cap easily. 

However the reasoning for purely wage based prioritization is still flawed.

andherBilla

Sounds like what a lot of other countries are already doing - ie. a points-based system.

DelilahBT

The motivation behind this is to get universities in financial trouble, since international new grads can't make Level 3-4 wages.

jq8964

Will this affect anyone who is previously selected looking to do transfers?

No-Permission4489

Any change will be welcomed. The current system is just ridiculously broken and abused. Lottery is purely madness.

Strange_Squirrel_886

These changes are extremely positive. H1Bs should be given to senior and high specialized people. Not to entry level workers.

Obviously, everyone on the sub will be against it. However, as an American new grad in CS, I shouldn’t have to compete for entry level jobs against all of India. H-1B should be for highly skilled individuals with sought after skill sets. Not entry level roles.

We really need to cut down on h1b favorability to India. Expand h1b in other areas of the world first.

No-Cow8545

It will directly impacts low wage ones, such as 70k ones with 10 years of experience. A company interested on sponsorship will have to offer a fair salary or to hire local. It will also significantly impact graduates on OPT that accounts to get picked up by the lottery on one of their three chances.

Alternative_Ad4267

This is really good and I don’t know why people are saying it’s bad. Level 3 in NYC is arnd 135K a year. I don’t know a single international who will not make that by third year of Opt…. But then again, I’m in NYC and everyone is going into finance, so for that it’s amazing

Civil_Delay1573

Top_Tea7359

Indian Consultant Company will abuse that, trust me

deangood01

Indian consultancy companies stand to benefit greatly from this new rule. Many categorize their jobs under Computer Systems Engineers/Architects and Computer Programmers. This year, wage levels in Santa Clara (Bay Area) are $140k for Computer Systems Engineers/Architects, $130k for Computer Programmers, and $190k for Software Developers. Most big tech companies use the title Software Developer. Computer Systems Engineers/Architects and Computer Programmers perform the same tasks as Software Developers, but Indian consultancy firms use this categorization to inflate wage levels. Therefore, this new rule won't significantly impact Indian consultancy companies but will streamline processes for them. It's nearly impossible for an entry-level or mid-level candidate to secure a job with a $190k base salary (note that wage level only considers base salary). Even companies like Google and Meta cannot offer $190k base salary to someone with three years of experience. Genuine talent will be overlooked.

Few_Loan_8190

How about we focus on skills and the importance of the role to help Americans rather than the wage ? 

For example, the profession I am in (Counseling) does not pay much compared to tech people. But, I can guarantee you Counselors help more Americans in communities than tech people do each day. 

Just saying...

Welcome change! This will have an impact on Universities and the economy of surrounding towns.

bana87

This is good. H1b should attract only talents who have atleast masters ... No need to attract mass crowd

Calm-Cable2778

This was how it was prior to 2013 when there were talented people coming through the system. Now it's just mass hiring cheap talent.

srvnth

Weighting it based on existing salary might not bring the most meritorious though, just more from European countries.

CantMkThisUp

So similar to Canada, Australia, UK, and several other countries?

cgyguy81

What will happen is things will get outsourced

testingdoobos123

This never gets passed. They try this in every term.

AoeDreaMEr

WITCH gonna be bitching about this. Earlier they used to lobby the Congress

phantom_wahrior

I welcome this change. This will only allow deserving candidates and not people exaggerating their resumes as the consulting companies in NJ will ask you to do.

Fit-Arugula-1171

The change is definitely positive, but what about careers that consistently offer low pay across borders, regardless of experience or educational qualifications like a master’s degree? Fields like architecture and civil engineering still tend to pay significantly less compared to tech roles with similar levels of experience. They are dignity skilled jobs.

Unhealthy-salad

The following is a copy of the original post to record the post as it was originally written.

At present, H-1B visas are allocated by lottery because there are far more applicants (759,000 eligible) than there are available visas (65,000, plus 20,000 more for those with master's degrees or doctorates). There have also been notable cases of American workers being replaced by H-1B workers under very dubious circumstances. Furthermore, a large part of these applications are sponsored by fraudulent consulting firms in one particular country, which crowds out genuinely needed workers the world over.

Would it be better to allocate these H-1B visas based on the highest salaries? Under such a system, the 65,000 and 20,000 applicants with the highest salary offers would be granted visas. This would benefit far more people:

* The visa holders themselves get higher wages and are less likely to be abused. 
* Employers who genuinely need those skilled workers have greater certainty because they're guaranteed to get a visa for those employees if they offer enough money. 
* American workers benefit because the wage premium will prevent unscrupulous employers from using H-1B workers to undercut or replace them. 
* The losers would primarily be those fraudulent consulting firms and employers who are unwilling/unable to pay a wage premium for specialized skills. 

Given that premise, would this method of allocating H-1B visas be better than the current lottery?

Side note: The US was actually going to do something like this during the first Trump administration. That regulation was overturned on a procedural technicality - the acting Secretary of Homeland Security who proposed the rule had not been confirmed by the Senate and therefore did not have the authority to make that change. 

*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskALiberal) if you have any questions or concerns.*

AutoModerator

This getting into the weeds when really we need other reforms first. First, we need a lot more H-1B visas. Second, we need to provide these visa holders with a better path to permanent residency or citizenship. This way after a few years they can move around jobs if necessary. Being mobile like that is good for the workers and the economy as a whole.

But to your question, no. For example we need farm workers and tech workers. If based on salary, only tech companies would get foreign workers.

metapogger

If there is truth to the fraud accusations I would probably be fine suspending those visas from that country for a period of time long enough to drive that company out of business.  Outside of that I think lotteries are probably the best option of distributing limited visas.

Kerplonk

H1b recruitment is done without any advertising for that role. The law requires the job to be just listed on the company’s internal notice board which is never seen by any prospective candidates. 

H1b visa employment is slave like where the person is forced to accept a lower salary. 

There are many ways this visa is being abused. If the recruiting manager is Indian and the contracting company is also Indian, there’s usually a quid pro arrangement to pay some kick back in their home country to a family relative like sibling or Parent. 

How do I know this?  I came here during Y2K on a H1b and know all the shenanigans associated with H1b application process.

Many body shoppers charge 10-20k to apply for H1b lottery. 

For every single super skilled H1b visa holder that is highlighted as an example, there are 4 others who have fake resume and fake skill set. 

After Covid, it is quite common that the person interviewed for a contract position is not the one who shows up on Day 1 after being hired. There are people who charge 2k to interview on your behalf. 

It is also not uncommon for the unskilled spouse on H4 EAD to be hired in the same work place as a H1b visa holder. The H1b holder does the work for both but there’s a second warm body generating an income which is split among the recruiter, contracting firm and the H1b holder. 

There are so many other H1b scams that I’ve seen thst it take me few hours to type.

direstraits66

The H1 program really needs an overhaul but we need to deal with offshoring and outsourcing first and foremost. This affect American workers way more often

lucitatecapacita

If I understand the question, my answer is no, unless you plan to cover the entire range of available salaries (by which I mean standard US salaries from the field being represented, not substandard offerings for foreigners... not trying to short-change anyone in my argument). Certain career fields tend to use certain salaries, so if you limited those visas to a certain salary range, at first you'd limit hires except to those fields, and eventually other fields would modify their salaries to match what was being offered. At present there's no such manipulation (there are probably other kinds, which is another question).

AlertWalk4624

I think it would be a good idea. This would basically address the perception that some companies abuse H1B visas so that they can get cheaper labor compared to American citizens. If it's truly about finding skill sets that have a legitimate shortage, than employers should be forced to pay a premium.

Radicalnotion528

I think if there are workers with skills that U.S. needs, those workers should get visas with no strings attached. I didn’t quite understand your proposal from skimming through quick, but I think the program should be scrapped, and like I said, if we think some workers are needed here, we should just welcome them

mango789

I could think of some corner cases I would want addressed.

For example, let's say we want an ABC engineer (where ABC is some new technology where there is truly not enough local expertise), but under your system every single slot is taken up by cryptocurrency firms playing bidding wars with their venture capital money.

Do we just accept that cryptocurrency firms \*currently\* have more money to spend and so should get literally all the slots, or what?

I don't think solely using salary bidding will produce the desired effect.

phoenixairs

This seems like a far less efficient way than the lottery, even though the lottery system is pretty inefficient to begin with.

It creates a market distortion and also doesn’t necessarily address the exploitation problem on the first place.

System reforms require H1b workers to have a pathway to proper PR and eventually citizenship to remove the indentured servitude that can happen to H1b workers. Simply theoretically paying them more doesn’t mean the conditions would magically be better; in fact it’s possible that the higher pay comes with significantly higher expectation.

Visas should go where there’s the greatest need, not simply to the highest bidder. If someone needs to hire a worker to do a job and they have $90k to pay, but can’t attract an American at that pay rate, it seems better to me that they have the ability to offer a visa to an overseas worker who will work for that pay rate than to simply lock them out entirely.

ausgoals

Honestly I think we need to greatly limit the number of H1 visas. Quite frankly it should be almost impossible to get one in the private sector if unless your making a lot of money. Like 250k plus or so. 

docfarnsworth

Why would you do it by salaries? Just auction the visas which lets the government get some revenue in the process and is less distortinary. 

meister2983

Almost every company is using H-1B to undercut and replace American workers.  Many come on student visas and acquire the specialized skills here in American Universities.  In Engineering you have foreign Engineers with Masters and PhD’s making more than their American counterparts in Academics, but less than their American colleagues with Bachelor’s degrees doing the same jobs.  The data on what is really happening is very easily manipulated so it’s unreliable.

Altruistic_Role_9329

Prestigious_Pack4680

Stop artificially limiting the supply of visas.

Due_Satisfaction2167

Just uncap the visas. It’s completely insane that the talent of the world is ready to work for the benefit of our country and we’re turning them away arbitrarily.

Rethious

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security seeks to overhaul the H-1B visa process, potentially changing the selection criteria for skilled foreign workers.

H-1B Visa Reform

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